Family’s pain:‘We’re broken, and he walked away’
THE death of Navy officer Lieutenant Scott Jarman in a horror smash at Parap five years ago today still leaves the family reeling that the man responsible, Kristos Diamandopolous, never served a day in jail.
Diamandopolous in 2014 ran a red light on the corner of Woolner Rd and the Stuart Hwy at full throttle, his blue ute ploughing into Lt Jarman's 4WD, killing him instantly and seriously injuring passenger Dylan White.
In 2017 he was sentenced to a five year good behaviour bond and his licence was disqualified for a decade.
Lt Jarman's mother Susie Jarman told the NT News from her home in Tully Heads, Queensland, she was planning a get-together today with friends to have a quiet drink and remember her son's life.
Ms Jarman said she had a simple message for Diamandopolous.
"I just want to remind him: 'you walked away a free man, virtually, we walked away a broken family and you never expressed any remorse or contrition to us. Nothing'," she said.
"We're broken and he's walked away."
The Supreme Court in 2017 heard Diamandopolous did not tell his neurologist about the frequency and severity of his epileptic seizures and hid the fact of a 2012 car crash on Illife St, Stuart Park.
The result was that Diamandolpolous kept his driver's licence, which would likely have been stripped had he been upfront with medicos.
The dangerous driving charge Diamandopolous pleaded guilty to was a result of his decision to get behind the wheel knowing the true nature of his medical condition, rather than the driving itself.
Ms Jarman said she was still paying off the $60,000 it cost to bury her son, aged 32, and the only comfort her family now had was "an anchor cross at the corner of Woolner Rd ... and a plaque in Cairns cemetery".
"Scott was a well-respected Lieutenant in the Navy, a huge part of the Darwin Navy community, a devoted son and brother, and the life of any party," Ms Jarman said.
NT Police at the time described the 130km/h crash as one of the worst ever seen on suburban Darwin roads.
Diamandopolous's 2017 sentencing hearing heard he suffered a debilitating stroke and cognitive impairments following the crash.
In sentencing Diamandopolous in 2017, Justice Stephen Southwood took into account his remorse and previous good reputation.
Diamandopolous did not respond to calls on Tuesday.
