Dad Charged With Drug Driving on Jet Ski Which Killed His Son

A father was charged with drug driving on a jet ski after he ran over his nine-year-old son and killed him on Mount Isa lake in November last year.

Shane Michael Parkes, 34, was charged on Wednesday with a string of offences, including drug driving and unlicensed driving, after the death of his son, Tobi at Lake Moondarra on ­November 20.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Vaughan Cooper told the Mount Isa court that Mr Parkes had been pulled over and charged while taking his six-year-old son, Dylan, to school. He said that Mr Parkes failed a roadside drug test after dropping his son off to school.

“The defendant was required to supply a specimen of breath, which returned a small reading. When questioned, it will be alleged the defendant stated he had just consumed half a bottle of hand sanitiser as he was being intercepted. It will be alleged when asked why, he stated that he knew he was going to test positive to drug driving,” he said.

Sgt Cooper also detailed Mr Parkes’s decade-long criminal history, including his alleged connection to a major drug trafficking ring in north Queensland. He added that at the time of the jet ski accident, Mr Parkes was on bail for trafficking, which prosecutors had opposed.

Meanwhile, Lawyer Anderson Telford said Mr Parkes had turned to marijuana to help deal with the stress of being charged with drug trafficking in 2016.

Mr Parkes cried in court as the ­charges were heard and bail was denied. His lawyer told the court his client was “quite clearly struggling” to come to terms with the loss of Tobi.

Mr Parkes will reappear on April 18 facing one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, operate ship while unlicensed, operate ship while not registered and drug driving.

Source: Kidspot.com.au