The 14-year-old boy who allegedly ran a red light and triggered the crash which killed his friend on Wednesday night is the son of an offender who committed a similar grievous offence years ago.
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The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has faced court charged with culpable driving causing death as the driver of the Toyota Avalon which collided with a Toyota Hilux around 11.50pm on Wednesday.
He was released on bail at a hearing on Friday and is now charged with two counts of culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm.
The Canberra Times has learned that the boy's father was speeding when he was involved in a previous fatal crash in the Canberra region.
A passenger in Wednesday night's horrific Barton Highway crash was extracted from the wreckage by ACT Fire and Rescue but died from his injuries a short time later.
Another passenger in the allegedly stolen car was also badly injured.
Initial evidence from the crash site suggested the Avalon was hit side-on, squarely in the passenger compartment, as the driver allegedly ran the red light at the intersection with Kuringa Drive and the Barton Highway in Belconnen.
The car is said to have been stolen from Chisholm earlier on Wednesday, and the driver will face a separate charge for that alleged theft.
The ACT Children's Court was told the four people in the allegedly stolen Avalon sedan were on a "joy ride" when the fatal collision occurred.
"I'm going to jail, I've just killed my mate," a witness who attended the Wednesday night crash scene heard a juvenile say.
Academic studies have revealed how the likelihood of criminal tendencies were transferred from parents to their children, with the Australian Institute of Criminology finding that criminal fathers do have an influence on their sons.
The study found sons with criminal fathers and law-abiding mothers had a 48.5 per cent chance of committing a serious crime in their lifetime.
It took until 2021 before the ACT government committed specific funding to intergenerational crime in the ACT, targeting adolescents who were generally disadvantaged and at a high risk of serious offending.
Tom McLuckie, whose 20-year-old son Matthew was killed in a head-on collision with a stolen car travelling at high speed on the wrong side of Hindmarsh Drive in May 2022, said this week's Barton Highway crash had revisited the horror his family had faced.
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"A young man with his whole life ahead of him is dead, two are badly injured and another is dealing with the reality of what has happened through his actions. At 14. God help him," Mr McLuckie wrote on his Facebook page, actnowforsaferroads.
"It's horrific, soul destroying and many lives will be terribly impacted by this event. Life changes as you know it, never to be the same again, and a hole is created in your heart and soul that will never be filled. Never.
"I know this as I have lived this, with my family, and relive it often. The pain and heartbreak never leaves.
"The parents of the other young souls who are injured, at the hospital, distraught and scared and waiting for updates. God bless them and our prayers are with them and their children.
"Our thoughts are with the alleged offender. I cannot comprehend how he feels in this moment, a teenage boy, and how he will ever be able to look at himself in the mirror. But any regrets are all too late."
