A drunk man whose "deliberately delinquent" driving led to the death of a passenger who fell from the tray of a utility has been jailed in Adelaide.
Anthony Phillip Carberry, 39, had quickly stopped and started the ute on a number of occasions when Dylon Fraser, 25, was lying in the back.
When the "extremely intoxicated" Mr Fraser got in, he put the tailgate up and the lid down but must have opened the gate in response to the starting and stopping, Judge Paul Cuthbertson said on Wednesday.
He jailed Carberry for a minimum of three years five months in the South Australian District Court.
Carberry had been found guilty of an aggravated charge of dangerous driving causing death and leaving the scene of an accident at outback Roxby Downs in June 2012.
The father of three children offered people a lift as he was leaving the Roxby Downs Tavern in the early hours of the morning.
Two brothers and Mr Fraser's girlfriend got into the cabin, while Mr Fraser got into the tray uninvited, for the short drive of only about a minute.
"Who got where in the car that night may very well have been a matter of chance," the judge said.
Carberry's rapid stopping and starting was meant to cause Mr Fraser inconvenience, the judge concluded.
He had not intended harm but was simply carrying out a foolish joke "which, I am sure, only seemed funny at the time".
Mr Fraser must have felt uncomfortable, wanting air, and succeeded in opening the tailgate before falling out and hitting his head.
Carberry's conduct been deliberately delinquent, involving "gratuitous stupid driving" resulting in a death causing great pain to Mr Fraser's family and friends.
