The man who allegedly killed a teenage spectator at a motorsports event in Stawell has been given bail in the Supreme Court, after an earlier failed attempt in May.
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Bryce Dridan, 29, made a fresh bail application at the Supreme Court on Thursday, after he was denied bail at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on May 7.
Dridan is charged with dangerous driving causing death after he allegedly lost control of a car at a Stawell burnout event, taking it into a food court area and hitting an 18-year-old attendee, killing him.
He also faced another set of dangerous driving charges after allegedly crashing a Lamborghini sports car into a Mitchell Park home after trying to perform a burnout at an intersection.
Following his failure to get bail at the May 7 hearing, Dridan was charged with attempting to escape police custody, after an incident at the Ballarat Base Hospital the night of the hearing.
At Thursday's bail application, the court heard from Dridan's mother, who said which arrangements would be in place were he to be granted bail.
Dridan would live with his parents at their Wendouree address, and work three to four days a week on farming properties owned by the family in Mitchell Park and Cambrian Hill.
The work would consist of cropping, land marking and handling cattle, which would be supervised by Dridan's father.
Dridan's mother said he would not have access to a car on the properties, but would be required to drive a tractor when needed.
Dridan's father would split his time between the family's mechanics business in Ballarat and the properties to check in on Dridan as he completed the work.
His mother also spoke on Dridan's declining mental health in the wake of a friend's suicide five years ago, and a motorbike crash which resulted in a serious leg injury.
Dridan's mother said he had been attending mental health treatment appointments in the wake of the crash, where he was driven off the road and into a fence.
The appointments were paid for by the TAC, however as the TAC money fell away Dridan had to self-fund his treatment and eventually fell away.
By the time of the Stawell incident in November 2023, Dridan was not receiving any mental health treatment.
Dridan's barrister Alex Patton said it was the 29-year-old's first time in custody, and he had the support of the court integrated services program if released.
Mr Patton also said Dridan's partner was 10 weeks pregnant, which gave another reason for Dridan to stay out of trouble during his time on bail.
"He is a grown man, he does have to take responsibility over himself," Mr Patton said.
"It is physically arduous labour, the likelihood of him absconding or coming across a motor vehicle comes across on the evidence as remote if any."
Regarding Dridan's attempted escape from custody at the Ballarat Base Hospital, Mr Patton said Dridan was in an "emotional" state after being refused bail in May at the Magistrates' Court.
Mr Patton called it a "fairly haphazard" attempt, only getting about 150 metres before being apprehended.
Crown prosecutor Andrew McKenry called Detective Senior Constable Melanie MacFarlane from the Major Collision Investigation Unit to give evidence for the prosecution. Detective MacFarlane gave evidence at Dridan's earlier bail hearing in May, and was the lead investigator pressing charges for the fatal Stawell crash.
The court heard a toxicologist's report from the day of the Stawell crash had since been provided to the police, which said there were amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine in Dridan's blood.
The detective said she did not think any bail conditions would be able to control Dridan if released from custody.
"It doesn't seem like he follows any rules," Detective McFarlane said.
"He broke a series of rules that he was required to participate in at the event.
"This is not the first burnout event that he has been to... he has been to previous burnout events, and he has been kicked out of them twice for breaking their rules.
"I am not sure a bail condition is really going to necessarily do anything because he hasn't followed any rules."
Mr McKenry said the Lamborghini crash in May was an example of Dridan's dismissal of the road rules, and that he posed too great a risk to be released.
"What the court is confronted with is a person who has continued driving... his privilege to drive had been revoked and he continued to do so, and continued to do so in a way that put people in danger," Mr McKenry said.
Justice Incerti granted Dridan bail, something she had done with the hope Dridan would seek the help he needed for his mental health and drug addiction issues.
"It should never be forgotten that your alleged offending is serious, and in this case has resulted in the absolutely tragic death of an 18-year-old young man," Justice Incerti said. "In your favour is the fact that you are a person with specific vulnerabilities... intertwined with your mental health is your history of drug use.
"This is an opportunity for you to get the help you need, and it doesn't matter how much goodwill, care and love your parents, partner and family show you, if you do not take this help, if you do not engage in treatment, you will find yourself back in prison.
"Don't lose this opportunity, it is one which I have with some degree of nervousness have given you."
Dridan will appear in court next on June 13.
