‘Can’t get much worse’: TPG Capital’s Joel Thickins admonished after negligent driving conviction
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The news: TPG Capital’s co-head of Asia Joel Thickens has been convicted of negligent driving after colliding with another moving vehicle as well as four parked cars and refusing to be breathalysed twice.
The context: Thickins is guilty of having crashed his BMW into a Mazda and subsequently into parked vehicles, as described by Justice Bracko, at an intersection on the eastern side of centennial park in Sydney.
In making his judgment, Bracko described the incident as “an absolute shocker”.
“Without maiming or killing someone it can’t get much worse than the defendant on a busy residential street ... he swerves out of his lane, collides with the offside of another motor vehicle which I can assume was travelling in the opposite direction, causes damage to that vehicle, then collides with another vehicle,” Bracko said.
”Then there’s a loss of control and the defendant slams into the rear of another vehicle sufficiently forceful enough for it to destroy the wheels and axle to be sawn off from the chassis.”
Thickins will pay a cumulative fine of $1,430, be disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for nine months and face minimum participation in the Traffic Offender Intervention Program for 24 months.
TPG said it has undertaken a “comprehensive third-party investigation into the circumstances surrounding the collision as well as a set of unrelated allegations that publicly emerged several days later”.
The global asset manager said the unrelated allegations are “entirely without merit” and that it will be “communicating directly with our stakeholders in the coming days as to the broader path forward”.
Thickins was represented by Streeton Lawyers’ Justin Wong.
What they said: “I would like to sincerely apologise to the police, the court and the people impacted by my reckless actions on 1 June. I am fully aware of the seriousness of the matter and know that I have let down my family, my friends and the community,” Thickins said in a statement.
“I accept full responsibility for the accident. I apologise again for the inconvenience and distress caused and I will meet all costs for the damage. I’m very grateful no one was injured or hurt. As I have assured the court, this will never happen again.”
A TPG spokesperson said: “While we were disappointed to learn of Joel’s actions when he was involved in a car collision in Sydney, we acknowledge that Joel is taking full responsibility for his actions and the impact they have caused and that he appreciates the seriousness of the matter.”
The source: NSW Courts
