Not a day's gone by over the past four years when Alexander Gall has not been haunted by the memory of a young soldier who died after the troop carrier Mr Gall was driving crashed out of control.
The former soldier tearfully apologised to the man's family - wishing again that they could have their son back - after a Sydney jury cleared him on Thursday over the 22-year-old's death.
Mr Gall was found not guilty of dangerous driving causing death and six counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
He was behind the wheel of a six-tonne army "Unimog" at Holsworthy Barracks in 2012 when it rolled, killing Sapper Jordan Penpraze and injuring six others.
Before undergoing one month of army driver training Mr Gall had only completed three driving lessons organised by his parents.
During the trial he agreed he had "very little driving experience".
There were gasps and cries in the public gallery in the Downing Centre District Court as the jury delivered its verdict.
Outside court, the former trainee soldier fought back tears as he apologised to the Penpraze family for their pain and loss.
"Not a day has gone by where I do not wish that I could have those moments back so that they could have their son back," Mr Gall told reporters on Thursday.
"I'm so deeply sorry to all those passengers and anyone else involved."
Mr Gall in late February told the jury he panicked when he lost control of the troop carrier as the vehicle headed towards bushes.
"All I could see was trees," he said during the trial.
He recalled wrestling frantically with the steering before the truck veered off the road and overturned.
The 15 passengers in the back were thrown from the vehicle and Mr Penpraze died three days later.
Mr Gall's trial heard that before the crash another sapper warned him to slow down - but the 24-year-old didn't recall that happening.
Mr Gall also rejected claims from witnesses that he was deliberately aiming for pot holes and making the troop carrier slide before the accident.
But Mr Gall's lawyers told the jury his driving was the result of honest and reasonable mistakes, saying the army's training was "hopelessly inadequate" and there was almost no supervision at the time of the accident.
His barrister said that only 13 days of Mr Gall's course involved driving and everything he knew about driving a Unimog was from the army.
Share
