A Kialla taxi driver sentenced to six years in jail following a collision with a minibus, which killed three elderly women, has successfully appealed his conviction.
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Jatinder Panesar had his appeal granted on Friday, after previously being sentenced to six years in jail with a non-parole period of three years and six months in November 2018.
After serving just under 18 months in prison, the Victorian Court of Appeal quashed his convictions last week, which included three counts of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
The incident — in which a taxi driven by Mr Panesar collided with a minibus containing nine elderly nursing home patients and support staff from Shepparton aged care facility Mercy Place — happened at the intersection of Pyke and Turnbull Rds, Ardmona, in 2017. It resulted in the deaths of Valerie McCubbin, 80, Doreen Emanuelli, 95, and Theresa Tyndall, 91, — either on the day of the collision or soon afterwards due to their injuries.
Mr Panesar had previously pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his defence lawyer John Dickinson QC arguing an undiagnosed sleeping condition rendered him asleep before the impact.
However, a jury found Mr Panesar guilty of the five charges, which led to his imprisonment.
During the appeal it was noted one of the major issues arising from the trial was whether the driving of Mr Panesar was conscious and voluntary.
The three appeal judges agreed there had been a "substantial miscarriage of justice" because the trial judge failed to adequately explain to the jury the expert evidence concerning Mr Panesar suffering from sleep apnoea.
The jury was told Mr Panesar consulted sleep expert Dr John Swieca following the collision, where he was diagnosed with severe sleep apnoea.
During the appeal Mr Panesar's counsel submitted there was reasonable possibility that the applicant was in such a depleted state of consciousness due to his disorder when approaching the intersection that he lacked the capacity to respond to warnings or apply the brakes.
Both Dr Swieca and Epworth Hospital's Sleep Centre director Professor Darren Mansfield gave evidence that it was reasonably possible that at the time Mr Panesar was driving towards the intersection he was experiencing "micro sleeps" or was in a transition state "towards such sleeps".
“We have a reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the accused as we are unable to exclude the reasonable hypothesis that (Mr Panesar) ... was, as a result of his diagnosed condition of severe sleep apnoea, mentally incapable of assimilating and responding to the (warning) signs,” the appeal judges said.
“The jury, if properly instructed, could not have been satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the conduct of the applicant in driving towards the intersection was conscious and voluntary.”
The appeal judges said evidence given that Mr Panesar had fallen asleep in the "very noisy" emergency department at Goulburn Valley Health following the collision also gave weight to the possibility he was suffering from sleep apnoea.
Issues also arose during the trial of whether the alleged dangerous driving of Mr Panesar was a substantial and significant cause of Mrs Emanuelli's death, who died three days after the collision.
The appeal judges agreed the verdict on charge two, relating to her death, was "unreasonable or unable to be supported heaving regard to the evidence".
Mr Panesar's appeal was granted, with the judges ordering verdicts of not guilty be entered on each of his five charges.
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