Charlie Snowy Jacob Barndabba: Passengers pleaded with drunk driver before horror crash that killed 3yo girl

A driver who drank alcohol while skylarking on a dirt road caused a horror crash that killed an unrestrained three-year-old relative in WA’s Pilbara region, a court has been told. Charlie Snowy Jacob Barndabba had an alcohol reading of 0.16 - more than three times the legal limit - and cannabis in his system after the tragedy in De Grey in August last year. The Supreme Court of WA was told on Tuesday that the 25-year-old was still travelling fast after pulling off Great Northern Highway onto an unsealed road. Passengers had pleaded with Barndabba to slow down, reminding him that the child was unrestrained as she cried amid the yelling adults. But he ignored them and deliberately turned the steering wheel left and right to make the Holden slide out, making jokes about being a good driver. Defence counsel Paul Bevilacqua said his client was also told to “stop being stupid”. “They were fearful ... and yet he persisted,” Justice Bruno Fiannaca said. It was also suggested Barndabba had been arguing with his partner - and anger was a factor not conducive to good driving, the judge said. Barndabba hit an embankment, causing the car to roll seven times, flinging the child from the vehicle. She suffered catastrophic head injuries and died at the scene, while two other passengers suffered bodily harm. Barndabba’s intoxication and manner of driving made it a serious example of dangerous driving causing death, prosecutor Les Hobson said. He recently pleaded guilty to the charge after it was downgraded from manslaughter, almost a year after the tragedy. Mr Bevilacqua said his client was remorseful, considering the girl, who was the stepdaughter of a cousin, as his niece. He did not have full recollection of what happened and had not planned to go out that day, after consuming a small amount of alcohol with lunch, the lawyer said. But when relatives needed a lift to Port Hedland after their car broke down, he made the “very poor choice” to get behind the wheel. “It was all the alcohol he drank along the way,” Mr Bevilacqua said. The child’s car seat was not transferred to his vehicle as there wasn’t enough room, with two people in the front and three in the back, leaving the girl “being held by various people at various times”. Mr Bevilacqua said his Aboriginal client, who had been a ranger, may suffer cultural punishment upon release from prison. Justice Fiannaca ordered a transcript from a phone conversation Barndabba had behind bars, which Mr Bevilacqua said went to his remorse, before sentencing on November 11. Barndabba has also pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm, which are being dealt with in the Perth Magistrates Court.