Source : Perth Now news
A broken family has relived the horrific moments a drunk and speeding driver tore through their lives, killing a nine-year-old boy who had overcome years of health challenges and leaving his parents with grief they said they would carry forever.
The Brisbane Supreme Court was told Keith Andrew Chambers was heavily intoxicated and travelling up to 64km/h over the speed limit when he lost control of his mini-van and crashed into Aiden Guimaraes and his father David as they rode an electric bike along a marked bike path at Robina in October 2024.
The courtroom was packed with Aiden’s supporters on Tuesday, with so many people attending that a second room had to be opened so proceedings could be viewed by livestream.
Aiden’s mother, Andrea Guimaraes, sat directly behind Chambers as he entered the dock wearing a black suit and appearing visibly nervous.
As he was formally arraigned, Chambers pleaded guilty to manslaughter, dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance while excessively speeding, and high-range drink-driving.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told the court there was no innocent explanation for what happened that afternoon.
After drinking alcohol at his girlfriend’s home, Chambers got behind the wheel and began driving erratically.
About 1.2km before the crash, witnesses saw him nearly collide with one vehicle at a roundabout before swerving dangerously around another.
Moments later, he approached a bridge near Robina Town Centre Dr, travelling between 113km/h and 132km/h in a 70km/h zone.
At the same time, Aiden and his family were riding home after sharing burgers at Grill’d, with the nine-year-old riding on the back of an electric bike being ridden by his father, David Guimaraes.
The court was told Aiden had been born with velocardiofacial syndrome and endured years of medical treatment and five surgeries before flourishing.
Because his condition made riding a traditional bicycle difficult, the family bought an electric bike so he could enjoy rides with them.
Mr Guimaraes had also battled multiple sclerosis, but treatment overseas had significantly improved his condition. He later described that period as one of the happiest times of the family’s life.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
Mr Crane said Chambers struck a concrete median while speeding and intoxicated, causing him to lose control and plough into the father and son who were riding on a dedicated bike path.
“The impact was significant,” Mr Crane said.
The force of the collision scattered debris across the roadway, with the battery from the electric bike landing 62m from the point of impact.
Aiden suffered catastrophic injuries.
He was rushed to hospital and placed on life support, but Mr Crane said the injuries “were never going to be survivable”.
Mr Guimaraes was left with multiple fractures, including serious injuries to his ribs, vertebrae and shoulder blade.
“Mr Chambers was uninjured,” Mr Crane said.
In the chaotic aftermath, Chambers approached the family and claimed another vehicle had clipped him.
The court was told he attempted to remove Aiden’s helmet before being repeatedly told not to touch the injured boy.
Mr Crane said Chambers later claimed he had suffered a medication-induced blackout, but that explanation was rejected.
The prosecutor said Chambers showed “carelessness and recklessness” and suggested there was no reason for his driving other than the “excitement” of it.
He also pointed to Chambers’ criminal and traffic history, including previous drink-driving offences and the loss of his licence in 2020 after recording a blood alcohol reading of 0.180.
After the details of the crash were laid bare, Aiden’s mother told the court what had been taken from her family.
Fighting back tears, she described her children as “the true love of my life” and spoke about the years she spent caring for Aiden through serious health complications that had almost claimed his life as a baby.
After countless hospital visits and surgeries, she had watched him flourish.
“To watch it all be stripped away in an instant,” Ms Guimaraes said.
She recalled the horrifying moment she saw the crash unfold, describing how her son’s body flew through the air before landing motionless on the ground.
When Chambers moved towards Aiden, she remembered screaming at him not to touch her son.
The nightmare continued at hospital, where doctors told the family there was nothing more they could do.
Ms Guimaraes told the court she was forced to make the unimaginable decision to turn off Aiden’s life support.
Supporters throughout the gallery broke down as she described holding her son, feeling his heart “slowly stop beating” and watching him take his final breath.
Even a Corrective Services officer in court appeared overcome by emotion, reaching for tissues while trying to hold back tears.
“A parent should never have to bury their child,” she said.
She told the court she now struggled with driving at dusk, avoided the area where the crash occurred and found many days impossible to navigate.
She remembered Aiden as a “cheeky little boy who absolutely loved life”, with a passion for monster trucks, video games, Pokemon and dogs.
Among the last words she heard him speak were: “Love you Mummy, love you Daddy.”
A statement from Mr Guimaraes was read to the court by Mr Crane, revealing a father completely broken by the loss of his son.
He revealed that when he was a child, Mr Guimaraes’ own mother was struck by a drunk-driver and continued to suffer the consequences of those injuries throughout her life.
“Now I’ve been affected twice by drunk-drivers,” Mr Crane read on Mr Guimaraes’ behalf.
He described his sons as the “most well behaved and loving boys”.
Now, he said, he must live with the loss of a son who fought so hard to survive the obstacles life had already placed before him.
“I must now spend the rest of my life looking at an empty chair … The eternal silence is deafening,” he wrote.
Recalling the moment he learnt Aiden had died while lying injured in hospital himself, Mr Guimaraes questioned why he had survived when his son had not.
“What god takes a nine-year old but leaves his father,” he wrote.
Justice Glenn Martin will sentence Chambers at a later date.
