news, latest-news

A 33-year-old man has been charged with the death of a patron at Summernats earlier this year. Queensland resident Alister Spong is charged with culpable driving causing death. He was summonsed to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court in March, and will face court again this week. The charge relates to an incident at the annual car festival in January, where Luke Newsome, 30, from Emerald in Queensland was killed after falling from the tray of a ute. The death was the first in the event's 29-year history. It resulted in security at Summernats issuing a blanket ban on riding on the back of utes. In the days that followed his death on January 6, Mr Newsome was remembered as a "top bloke" and a loving friend and partner who cared deeply about his family. "Today I lost my soul mate, my best friend and the love of my life," partner Caity Lye said on social media. "We had so much life to live together but your beautiful soul was unfortunately needed elsewhere." At the time, festival co-owner Andy Lopez said the organisation would work with any recommendations from the police, coroner or government. "We work very closely with all manner of agencies to ensure our event is safe, we have ambulance onsite 24 hours, we have a fantastically professional security team," Mr Lopez said. "Our safety record is really strong, but that's a cold comfort to the family." He said "what flows will flow" in relation to the investigation into the tragedy. The event continued to run as scheduled in the days following the death. A report for the coroner is being prepared. The Summernats festival has not been without incident since it kicked off in 1987. In 2006, four people were injured when a ute performing in a stunt show crashed through the perimeter fence and in 2000, a security guard was hit on the left leg by a car. Uniformed police began patrolling inside Exhibition Park during Summernats in 2012 for the first time in nine years, targeting hoons, violence and anti-social behaviour. The onus for maintaining security previously rested primarily with organisers and their contracted security guards. Reports of antisocial behaviour and sexual harassment have also marred the event. However, in recent years police on patrol had made minimal arrests and praised the behaviour of the majority of the festival's crowds. The Summernats festival is Australia's best known car festival. This year, it drew a crowd of more than 100,000 people, with about 2500 cars on show. It has run annually in Canberra since 1987.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/79cb43b9-d5c9-48e6-9c6e-2d0d3ca899dc/r0_248_2000_1378_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg