By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A trucking supervisor was warned hours before one of his drivers fatally ploughed into four police officers that the driver was not fit to drive, a court has heard.
Simiona Tuteru, 49, of the Lyndhurst-based Connect Logistics is facing a committal hearing for the police officers’ manslaughter.
Connect employee Stephen Harrison allegedly texted Mr Tuteru about 1.40pm on 22 April 2020 with concerns over the driver Mohinder Bajwa Singh’s “mental state”, according to phone records tendered to Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
“He told me he was not in a good spot.
“He was putting trucks on wrong docks and had a sleep on the way back from Thomastown and slept in.
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The truck driver who killed four police officers on the Eastern Freeway told a friend a little over an hour before the crash that he had one more important delivery before his boss said he could go home and rest, a court has heard.
Truck driver Michael Horrocks, giving evidence in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, said he told Mohinder Singh he should go home and not drive because he was acting strangely.
Trucking company manager Simiona Tuteru, who has been charged in connection to the Eastern Freeway crash, walks into court on Tuesday.
Credit:Simon Schluter
But Singh, Mr Horrocks said, told him the load was important and needed to be done before his boss said he could go home early.