Tayler Hazell stole this Commodore in Sutton before dangerously driving through NSW and ACT, hitting two St Edmund’s College schoolboys in the process, before crashing in Manuka. Photo: Supplied.
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains graphic imagery.
Onlookers in the ACT Supreme Court could not hold back tears as they heard family members describe how their lives had changed forever after two St Edmund’s College students were hit by a meth-affected driver on 28 March last year.
Tayler Christian Hazell had passed the father of the then-14-year-old victim in a damaged, stolen Holden Commodore shortly after the boys had been run over.
“Something said to me: go to St Eddie’s … when I got there, it was just carnage,” the father outlined in his victim impact to the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday (19 February), which was read by prosecutor Tazmin Lee.
He first saw the then-15-year-old victim on the ground.
“When I got to him, there was no skin on his face,” the statement outlined.
He used his “weight and the road to stop him from bleeding out”.
The father saw that his child was also injured, but wouldn’t leave the older boy until someone took his place.
When he was finally able to go to his son, the father saw that “his fingers were ripped off”.
The prosecutor also read the victim impact statement from his son to the court.
Both boys had been standing on the median strip of Canberra Avenue, waiting to cross the road to get to school, when they were hit.
The younger boy, who is now 15, outlined how three fingers on his left hand had been degloved when he was hit, and tendons, ligaments and veins had also been snapped in his right hand.
He had been on the St Edmund’s first-grade rugby team and enjoyed fishing in his downtime.
Now he cannot do either.
“Both hands affect what I can do every day,” his statement outlined.
“I missed out on being a normal teenager … none of this is my fault, and none of this should have happened.”
Both boys’ mothers read their victim impact statements as Hazell faced them in the dock.
The younger boy’s mother described how her son endured a six-and-a-half-hour surgery on his hand alone, and also suffered a punctured liver, lung, kidney and spleen, five broken ribs and needed 100 stitches in one laceration on his arm.
“[He was] white as a sheet … covered in his torn, bloody uniform,” she said.
She said that in the past week, her son had learned there was nothing else that could be done to repair his left hand.
“This crime has destroyed our lives,” she said.
“It has been 328 days of profound trauma.”
The mother of the older boy, who was found 31 metres from where the car hit him, said her son’s first surgery lasted eight-and-a-half hours, and he still had ongoing surgeries, physiotherapy, scans and tests.
Addressing Hazell directly, she told him: “You chose to hit my son and his friend, and you chose to drive away.”
“You left him on the ground, fighting for his life.”
Her son also started crying in the gallery as his mother outlined how Hazell’s actions had “permanently changed” who he was and what his future could hold.
“Before [28 March 2025], my son had never even broken a bone,” she said.
“Almost a full year was taken from my child … [the] restless fight to push doctors to repair what you broke has been exhausting and heartbreaking as a mother.
“I need you to hear and hopefully understand the devastation your decisions caused that day.”
The court also heard the victim impact statement of the father, whose dark green Commodore had been stolen in Sutton by Hazell.
He had been dropping off two of his children at a daycare, but his eight-year-old daughter was still in the unlocked vehicle when Hazell stole it.
“[It was] the most harrowing 15 minutes of my, and my then-eight-year-old daughter’s, life,” his impact stated.
“This bliss of childhood has been replaced with a tone of anxiety.”
The court also heard from Hazell, who cried as he apologised to the victims and their families.
“I have been the sole cause of ruining people’s lives,” he said.
“From the bottom of my heart … I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m just sorry.”
Hazell admitted his drug-taking was always a factor in his lengthy criminal history, and he kept making the wrong decisions because of “my own issues I haven’t dealt with”.
“I feel like a piece of shit.”
Speaking opened him up to cross-examination by Ms Lee, who questioned why the video showed him jumping out of the Commodore before jumping back in to steal it.
Ms Lee said Hazell knew there was a child in the car when he took it, something he denied.
“I would not have taken that car if I had known there was a child in the car,” he said.
Ms Lee accused Hazell of lying to the court, given the agreed statement of facts (which Hazell had signed) showed he said to the girl, “Oh, you’re a girl”, before telling her to get out and “run back to your Dad”.
“I don’t know if I said those words,” Hazell retorted.
“I hit two children … my mind was a little bit more on other statements of fact.”
He also maintained he didn’t know he’d hit the two boys in the first instance.
“I wasn’t 100 per cent sure, it happened so quick.”
The court also heard that other inmates had targeted Hazell and that he had been using meth while in prison.
He argued he hadn’t touched drugs “in a few months now” and that “people don’t like someone who ran over two children”.
Hazell was warned by Acting Justice John Burns that “you are not the victim here”.
He replied he knew he wasn’t, “but it’s not easy, mate”.
Ms Lee submitted that punishment and the community’s safety had to be at the forefront of Acting Justice Burns’s sentencing decision.
She also questioned whether Hazell’s guilty pleas and apology in the court were genuine.
“The things that this offender says must be taken with a grain of salt,” Ms Lee argued.
“Your Honour can put little to no weight on when this offender says he is sorry.”
She also referred to alleged “extra-curial” punishment inflicted on Hazell by police officers, saying it “must be denounced”.
“That behaviour does no favours to the victims … [and] has no place in civilised society,” Ms Lee said.
Tayler Christian Hazell will be sentenced next month. Photo: Supplied/Victoria Police.
His defence lawyer, Sam Lynch from Aboriginal Legal Services, also made a short reference to this but did not go into further detail.
Mr Lynch said Hazell knew “he’s in trouble” and that imprisonment was inevitable, but argued his client was remorseful.
“He has been around the block many times … he knows what needs to be said,” Acting Justice Burns retorted.
“He’s an inherently dishonest man.”
Mr Lynch said Hazell could still be remorseful despite his history.
He asked the judge to consider a non-parole period that would give his client hope for the future.
“Hope should not be lost, he’s only 32,” Mr Lynch said.
“[I ask for a period] that is not crushing.”
Acting Justice Burns will hand down Hazell’s sentence on 27 March at 11:30 am.
In regards to the allegations of “extra-curial” punishment inflicted on Hazell by police officers, an AFP spokesperson said the organisation’s professional standards had launched an investigation.
“Their inquiries determined conduct was in breach of AFP’s professional standards,” they said.
“Appropriate sanctions will be applied; however, this matter remains ongoing.”
Original Article published by Claire Fenwicke on Region Canberra.
