Appeal to jail Christopher Browne after he killed son Lincoln doing burnouts in buggy in Victoria

A father living with the fact that he caused the death of his son on Christmas Day is again facing the possibility of prison after prosecutors challenged a community service sentence.

Christopher Browne avoided jail after admitting he was to blame for the death of two-year-old Lincoln.

The young man was thrown from an off-road vehicle and crushed while his father was making donuts on the family property in Barnawartha North, north-east Victoria, in 2020.

Browne was sentenced to a three-year community corrections order, with conditions for 250 hours of community service and continued treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.

But prosecutors say his case is not unlike that of another Victorian father who was sentenced to more than three years behind bars after causing the death of his nine-year-old daughter in a car accident.

Christopher Browne (pictured) was sentenced to a three-year community correction order with 250 hours of unpaid community service

Browne had been deliberately burning a vehicle notoriously unsafe for such activities, Crown Victoria Chief Prosecutor Brendan Kissane, KC, told the Victoria Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

“In our performances… there is a serious degree of irresponsible behavior,” he said.

When sentencing Browne, County Court Judge Michael Cahill had taken into account that the father suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after the accident.

But Kissane questioned the extent to which that should have allowed for such different sentences.

Prosecutors have appealed Browne’s sentence and say he should serve jail time.

“It’s hackneyed to say that any parent who is involved in the death of their child would be grieving, in pain or suffering from stress and anxiety, and the distinction, if there is one, is not such as to warrant the distinction.” in prayer,’ he said.

The court heard Browne’s admission of dangerous driving causing death and reckless conduct endangering serious injury were twofold.

He had deliberately driven dangerously when doing the burnouts or donuts and had also deliberately circumvented the buggy’s built-in safety features by sitting on an engaged seatbelt, bypassing a safety lock that would have limited speed to 25km. /h.

He was driving between 40 km/h and 55 km/h at the time the buggy overturned.

Lincoln had been sitting on Browne’s lap, and Browne’s sister was in the passenger seat of the buggy, which should have only had two people on board.

Police photographed at the scene on private property in Moss Road, Barnawartha North on Christmas Day 2020

Browne’s attorney, Jason Gullaci, said Browne had admitted to police that he had been trying to scare his sister, that she had been making donuts, and confessed to violating seat belt rules.

“He has taken full and square responsibility for the devastating consequences of his reckless behavior,” he said.

Browne pleaded guilty after sentencing, and in the five months since he was sentenced, he has already completed more than 100 hours of required community service.

He and his wife, who remains his loyal supporter, found out after prosecutors filed their appeal that they were expecting another child, Gullaci said.

The couple had twin daughters who were stillborn before Lincoln’s birth and another surviving son.

“Since he now knows that his wife is pregnant and there is a real risk that he could be jailed as a result of the (prosecutor’s) appeal, he has significant concerns,” Gullaci said.

The appeal is being resolved by three judges.