Harinder Singh, 41, was on Wednesday granted bail in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, after putting up $270,000 in equity from his sister's home as a surety he would abide by bail conditions.
He faces four charges of dangerous driving causing death.
The Indian national was holidaying in Australia and staying with his sister in Shepparton when on January 4 he was shown around a vegetable farm with a view to working there to satisfy a visa, police allege.
He met four people on the farm who needed a lift to Shepparton, and ended up driving them the minutes-long trip — only to allegedly go straight through a stop sign at the intersection of Pine Lodge North Rd and Cosgrove-Lemons Rd and collide with a Toyota HiLux ute towing a trailer.
The ute driver sustained only minor injuries despite the trailer separating from the car, but Mr Singh’s four passengers died at the scene.
The Peugeot he was driving came to rest in a paddock and the front-seat passenger was trapped in the vehicle, while the three others were ejected from it.
The HiLux driver managed to wave down a car and call 000, before Mr Singh was freed from the Peugeot and flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
In hospital, he told police he couldn't remember the crash or who was in the car with him, and said he did not know why he would drive through a stop sign as he always followed the rules, police said.
Prosecutor Ben Kerlin alleged Mr Singh was a flight risk given his strong ties to India, where his wife and children remained.
Defence barrister Alan Marshall described Mr Singh as a “complete duck out of water sitting in custody” with no means of communicating given he did not speak English.
He was traumatised by the crash, having sustained 11 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, collarbone and skull fractures, and he only spoke to his sister for a couple of minutes each day, Mr Marshall said.
While Mr Singh was able to reach his wife from hospital, he could not do the same in prison, and his sister was not allowed to visit him because he did not have a COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the barrister said.
Magistrate Heather Lambrick found prosecutors’ concerns could be alleviated by strict bail conditions, including that Mr Singh surrender his passport and provide the court the $270,000 as a surety.
Mr Singh’s tourist visa has expired and he is considered an unlawful non-citizen in Australia, the court was told.
His case is next due to appear in court in June.
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