Stephen Russell recalls the final moments before a crash that killed his wife and stepson: "The caravan started swaying and all I could remember was the tree coming at me."
The 61-year-old was towing an overloaded caravan, filled with fridges, a barbecue, bedding, luggage and a TV, while using it to move his family from Tamworth to Wauchope, on the NSW mid-north coast, on January 3, 2019.
His 4WD, which had a dinghy on top, rolled, crashed into a tree and bounced into an embankment on the Oxley Highway outside Walcha, while the caravan detached and slammed into a rail.
Russell was jailed in May for at least two years after a jury found him guilty of dangerous driving causing the deaths of his wife Lynette and stepson Steven, and the injury of Steven's partner Lisa Willis.
The Director of Public Prosecutions appealed against the sentence, arguing it did not reflect Russell's criminality.
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal on Thursday doubled Russell's non-parole period to four years, with a maximum sentence of six-and-a-half years, finding the original sentence was "patently insufficient" for the deaths of two people and the harm of another.
The trial heard Russell, an experienced truck driver, directed and supervised his stepson and Ms Willis as they loaded the caravan, which became so heavy it exceeded the weight limits of the tow ball, axles and tyres.
The car was also filled with their possessions, and witnesses who came upon the crash were "amazed to see the amount of stuff packed into the caravan".
An expert described the effect of the overloaded caravan as "the tail wagging the dog".
During his original sentencing, Russell told the court he had packed the caravan in a similar way before.
He told a community corrections officer: "I was in the driver's seat, I have to live with that for the rest of my life."
The appeal court said the sentencing judge had also erred in finding the dangerous driving only began when the caravan started swaying.
"The dangerousness arose from (Russell's) deliberate decision to set off on a journey towing a grossly overloaded caravan," Justice Sarah McNaughton wrote in a unanimous judgment.
"The passengers, as well as members of the travelling public, were exposed to risk for the entire length of the journey."
Russell will be eligible for parole in May 2026.
Australian Associated Press
