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The man who put a truck driver behind the wheel while high and sleep deprived before killing four police officers has avoided jail.
Connect Logistics supervisor Simiona Tuteru, 52, was handed a three-year community corrections order on Wednesday, almost four years after she allowed Mohinder Singh to drive a 19-tonne truck.
After a sleepless night, Singh arrived at the company’s Lyndhurst warehouse and asked Tuturu to break a witch’s curse on him, as his boss was a church pastor.
Singh was high on methamphetamine and had visions.
The supervisor placed his hands on Singh’s head and recited a prayer, before asking him to drive a truck that afternoon, April 22, 2020.
Simiona Tuteru (second left) leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday after receiving a three-year community corrections order.
Constable Glen Humphris (far left), Senior Constable Kevin King, Senior Constable Lynette Taylor and Constable Joshua Prestney (right) were killed in the crash.
Singh drove the truck onto Melbourne’s eastern highway and turned into an emergency lane.
He crashed into three cars, including two police vehicles.
Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, and Constables Josh Prestney and Glen Humphris were killed.
Tuteru was initially charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, but those charges were dropped about six days before he stood trial.
Pleaded guilty to a single heavy vehicle offense in 2023, for failing to comply with his duties in the chain of responsibility.
Tuturu, dressed in a suit and tie, remained silent and looked straight ahead as he was handed the three-year community corrections order.
During that time you must perform 200 hours of unpaid community work.
Judge James Elliott said Singh was a “very unreliable witness” and rejected his evidence that he told Tuturu he did not sleep before putting him behind the wheel.
It also took into account the lengthy court proceedings Tuteru had faced, which included a judge adjourning the prosecution’s case and it being taken to the Court of Appeal.
Mohinder Singh (pictured) was high on methamphetamine and sleep deprived when his semi-truck ran over four officers. He is currently serving a prison sentence of 18.5 years.
Mohinder Singh was high on drugs and on little sleep before killing four police officers on the Eastern Expressway in April 2020.
“This procedure has been a protracted process carried out in a manner … that could not be described as optimal or efficient,” Judge Elliott said.
The prosecution had admitted during pre-sentence hearings that a non-custodial sentence was within its possibilities.
Tuturu will walk free from court on Wednesday.
Singh is serving a jail term of 18 and a half years, which was reduced from 22 years on appeal after he agreed to testify against Tuteru.
Connect Logistics supervisor Simiona Tuteru must carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work
Belinda Prestney, the mother of police constable Josh Prestney, leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria following the decision.
Stuart Shulze (left), husband of the late Constable Lynette Taylor, was in the Supreme Court of Victoria for the sentencing of Simiona Tuteru.