Brendan Roy Wouters was sentenced to 12 months’ jail, with a four month non-parole period, in Port Kembla Local Court in December last year after pleading guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.

The court heard the 43-year-old was driving a ute north along Five Islands Road, near Flinders Street, about 4pm on December 6, 2014 when he was involved in an accident with a semitrailer. 

As a result the truck careered into an embankment and crashed into the pillars of a BlueScope train bridge, damaging the bridge at its base and crushing the front of the truck.

The 55-year-old driver was trapped in his cabin for more than an hour while NSW Fire and Rescue crews worked to free him from the wreckage.

They eventually freed the man’s pinned feet by removing the steering wheel and cutting him out of his boots.

He was taken to Wollongong Hospital with several injuries including a fractured femur.

The court heard the truck driver had been left with permanent physical and psychological injuries and had not been able to work since.

At the time of Wouters’ original sentencing, the presiding magistrate said to deal with the crime without a full-time jail sentence would be inappropriate given the seriousness of the incident.

“It’s an atrocious set of facts,” the magistrate said.

“You couldn’t have cared less whether he [the victim] was dead, you ran off.

“What a gutless act that was.”

Wouters lodged an appeal against the decision which was heard in the NSW District Court last week.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Parkes urged Judge Paul Conlon to reduce the length of Wouters’ sentence, noting it was his first time in custody and he was very remorseful for his actions.

Judge Conlon agreed to halve the prison term to two months, meaning with time already served, Wouters will be released from prison next Monday.