Dramatic twist as case against pizza delivery driver Ashley Quadros accused of taking his hands off the wheel before fatal crash that killed two friends collapses

A pizza delivery driver charged over his involvement in a fatal crash has had his case dismissed in dramatic fashion.

Ashley Brian Quadros, 20, was accused of deliberately taking his hands off the wheel before a crash that killed two of his friends Mark Bogoni, 17, and Tom Saffioti, 15, in September 2021.

Four friends were in the car with Mr Quadros, including his Domino’s Armadale colleague Benjamin Jack Davis and Max Roso, as they delivered pizzas in Seville Grove, Western Australia.

The state argued that the car veered to the left on Lake Road before hitting a curb and then a tree because Mr. Quadros had “fooled around,” but their two key witnesses provided no evidence to support their claims.

Defense attorney Seamus Rafferty successfully argued that there was no case to answer, and the case collapsed halfway through.

On the first day of the court trial on Monday, 20-year-old Roso, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, initially claimed that Mr Quadros let go of the steering wheel before eventually admitting he was unsure where the hands belonged to. were the accused. .

Mr Rafferty said his client ‘completely and utterly’ denied taking his hands off the wheel at any time.

He told the court that Mr Quadros attributed the crash to a deflated right rear tire after police investigators found a screw in it, and said he oversteered to compensate.

WA Police major car crash investigator Neil Aitken also took issue with his initial expert assessment and accepted Mr Quadros’ explanation of how the crash occurred was reasonable.

Mr Aitken changed his mind after receiving a report from a forensic crash consultant in which he admitted the tire on the company-owned Lancer was under-inflated.

He then said that if Mr Quadros had taken his hands off the wheel, the car would have drifted to the right, and not to the left.

Outside court, Mr Bogoni’s eldest brother (pictured) was visibly upset, saying he was shocked and that his hopes of a guilty verdict had disappeared ‘in the first half hour of the first day’.

Tom Saffioti, 15, died in the September 2021 crash

Mr Quadros’ lawyer then filed a no-case application, under section 108 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2004, which gives a judge the power to dismiss a jury from returning a verdict on the indictment.

Judge Gary Massey found there was no case to answer on Wednesday morning, saying Roso had presented inconclusive evidence and the jury had no reason to ignore expert evidence.

He said Mr Rafferty had taken advantage of the state’s way of presenting his case and that the prosecution was “bound by the way” he did so.

Mr Massey acknowledged that the families of the deceased understandably felt let down and said he could only offer condolences.

Outside court, Mr Bogoni’s eldest brother was visibly upset, saying he was shocked and that his hopes of a guilty verdict had disappeared “in the first half hour of the first day”.

“It’s clearly not the outcome we wanted today,” Bogoni said The Western Australia.

‘We feel abandoned. Mark and Tom were both wonderful boys and we love and miss them.

“And we pray that all young people will travel safely and responsibly, because we never want what happened to our families to happen to another family.”

Saffioti’s mother also struggled to come to terms with the “very disappointing” outcome and said she will continue to seek justice for her son.

The trial would take five days.