8 December 2023

Dean Cluney pleads guilty to domestic violence incident in the minutes before fatal Yanco crash

| Shri Gayathirie Rajen
Griffith Court House.

Dean Cluney is set to face Albury Local Court next year for sentencing. Photo: Oliver Jacques.

A Griffith man has pleaded guilty to domestic violence-related charges following the investigation of a fatal crash that led to the death of a woman and three children near Leeton.

Dean Cluney, 32, fronted Griffith Local Court on Thursday (7 December) charged with aggravated break and enter and two counts of stalking or intimidation with intent to cause fear of physical harm.

Cluney pleaded guilty in front of Magistrate Trevor Khan to all three charges and had the previous two charges related to entering a dwelling withdrawn.

Police said officers attached to Murrumbidgee Police District had been told the rear door of a home in Cudgel Street, in Yanco, was kicked in and a resident was threatened on 4 April.

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About 15 minutes later, four people died in a fatal single-vehicle crash when a Hyundai Getz crashed into a pole and rolled down an embankment into a water channel at the intersection of Research and Toorak roads in Yanco.

Police said emergency services found a 36-year-old woman, her two sons, aged 10 and 11 and her 12-year-old nephew dead at the scene.

The next day (5 April), detectives arrested Cluney at a unit in Griffith and charged him with domestic violence-related offences. No charges have been laid in relation to the crash.

Cluney will remain in custody and is due to face Albury District Court on 2 February for sentencing.

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