Former Channel 7 reporter Trent Evans has pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death.
Evans, who was formerly the Channel 7 chief of staff, was involved in a fatal car accident in February last year that killed his friend Rex Willox. The 45-year-old pleaded guilty to the charge of culpable driving causing death in the Victorian County Court today.
The court heard that Evans had been drinking champagne with Mr Willox before the pair decided to drive to the news reporter’s motel, which was located about 20 minutes away. Evans lost control while taking a corner at a fast speed and the car flipped after it struck a timber pole.
Willox died at the scene and Evans returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.13. A later investigation found three empty bottles of champagne at Willox’s home where the pair were drinking prior to the car accident.
Evans is scheduled to receive his sentence on Monday but his lawyer Rahmin de Krester said his client accepted he would be jailed and described him as a “broken man” who will “carry the responsibility for Rex Willox’s death for the rest of his life.”
This year has seen Australian news hosts cursed with devastating blows. In May, popular Studio 10 host Erin Jayne Plummer passed away. Her death was first made public in a segment on Studio 10 in late May by the show’s hosts Sarah Harris and Angela Bishop.
“We’ve got some really sad news to share this morning,” said Studio 10 host Sarah Harris said. “Over the weekend, Studio 10 lost a little bit of it’s sparkle with our friend and advertorial host Erin Jayne passing away suddenly.
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“Now, for two decades, Erin Jayne has been a friendly and familiar face on Australian tele and for a lot of that, she’s been brightening up our mornings with her bubbly personality and megawatt smile. ”
“Her career began when she plucked from a Sydney beach to star in an international tourism campaign. Then came aerobics Ozstyle watched by forty million people around the world,” added Angela Bishop.
Plummer was best known for regularly hosting advertorials on Studio 10 and the shopping channel TVSN.
A few days after Plummer’s passing a Facebook page was set up in her memory that included the phone number of crisis support and suicide prevention organisation Lifeline.
However, social media activity shows that Plummer’s friends don’t believe that she committed suicide.
“Erin was truly the most beautiful soul I had ever met,” one friend said.
“No words can describe how special she was and the love she had for her three girls.
“She absolutely adored her girls. There is not one person who thinks she would have left her beautiful girls this way.”
Another friend said that she didn’t believe that Plummer was suicidal, either.
“Erin definitely had her battles over the years,” they wrote.
“And all of us wish we could have done more to help carry the weight of her pain. But she was happy and well the last time we saw her. Even her last Instagram post showed she was excited to be back at work.”
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