‘Not making rational decisions’: Diabetic Driver William Swale breaks silence on horror Royal Daylesford hotel crash

The driver involved in a tragic beer garden crash that killed five people has spoken about it publicly for the first time, delivering an apology for the “incomprehensible tragedy”.

William Herbert Swale, 69, took the stand in the Coroners Court of Victoria on Tuesday morning for the first day of a two-week inquest into the crash.

Mr Swale was suffering a severe hypoglycaemic episode behind the wheel of his BMW X5 when it crashed into benches and patrons outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel in Daylesford on November 5, 2023.

Multiple people were injured in the crash and five people from two families were killed.

Pratibha Sharma, 44, her nine-year-old daughter Anvi her husband Jatin Kumar, 30, their friend Vivek Bhatia, 38, and his son Vihann, 11, died in the crash.

The inquest began as Coroner Dimitra Dubrow conveyed her condolences to the families of those killed and injured, acknowledging the “impact and scars of that day remain”.

Outlining the lead up to the horror crash, counsel assisting the inquest Rishi Nathwani KC said Mr Swale had suffered a hypoglycaemic attack shortly after arriving in Daylesford, causing him to lose control and tragically careen into the beer garden.

Mr Swale, the court was told, had spent the prior two days in Clunes, sleeping in his car, for a clay shooting competition, before leaving to return home about 4.30pm.

He was captured on CCTV entering the Winespeake deli in Daylesford about 5.20pm, but left a short time later after staff said they didn’t have any tables.

Mr Swale returned to his car and crashed into the outdoor seating shortly after 6pm.

Called to give evidence, Mr Swale accepted he “must have” checked his continuous blood glucose monitor at 5.17pm, at which time records indicate he was already in a hypoglycaemic state with a blood sugar level recorded of 2.9mmol/L.

He said he recalls feeling “dark”, “a bit hazy” and “vague”, visiting Winespeake to increase his blood sugar level and because he was hungry.

Mr Swale told the court he’d taken a dose of insulin about 4pm intending to eat in Clunes but had been unable to.

Asked by Mr Nathwani if he’d considered getting takeaway from Winespeake, Mr Swale said: “No, because I was in a very, very hypoglycaemic state at the time”.

“Therefore I was not making rational decisions,” he said.

He agreed with a suggestion by Mr Nathwani that he was “on notice” of needing to eat within about an hour after the insulin injection.

“Do you accept it was a risk driving not having any food?” Mr Nathwani asked.

“No I didn’t feel any lack of care, any lack of planning, I anticipated I would get there in plenty of time.”

The court was told Mr Swale had dried fruit and nuts in his car, but did not eat them at any point.

Mr Swale said his last memory before waking up in an ambulance was leaving the Deli and he did not recall returning to his car or where he went after leaving.

Questioned on whether he knew he was hypoglycaemic when he checked his blood sugar at 5.17pm, Mr Swale denied this was the case.

But he said his memory of the drive from Clunes was “more and more vague as it gets closer to Daylesford”.

“I have very good memory of making very stupid decisions, it was like Alice in Wonderland,” Mr Swale said.

The court heard his continuous blood glucose monitor was connected to his phone and was set to alert if his blood sugar levels fell below 3.9mmol/ L.

According to records there were 10 alarms recorded on his phone, however Mr Swale denies ever hearing one or becoming aware of the alert.

He told the court he had never received an alarm while his phone was connected to his car, but now believes the car “muted” the alarm.

“I’ve had periods where I’ve scanned myself and thought ‘oh I’m 3.3 and no alarm has sounded’,” Mr Swale said.

He said his phone would alert him to a hypoglycaemic state about twice a week on average, but his last severe episode was in 2003.

After the crash, Mr Swale was found by a responding police officer clammy, drenched in sweat and appeared to be drifting in and out of consciousness.

He told the court he’d first been diagnosed with type-1 diabetes in 1994, but didn’t recall attending any formal training beyond a four or five day course that year.

Mr Swale said he only became aware of the requirement for diabetic drivers to register with VicRoads in 2019 after attempting to get a truck licence.

Following this, he told the court his GP thought his endocrinologist was managing this, while his endocrinologist thought his GP had certified him as safe to drive.

He was last certified by his endocrinologist Dr Matthew Cohen in July 2023 – just months before the crash.

Mr Swale was taken by Mr Nathwani to a number of educational materials about managing diabetes and safe driving practices, including several sent by email from Dr Cohen, but said he didn’t recall ever reading them.

“I can’t confirm if I have. If it was attached to an email It’s highly likely I would have opened it,” he said.

He also told the court he didn’t recall receiving training on his continuous blood glucose monitoring system beyond being told; “this was a wonderful new device … I could scan at any time”.

William Swale, 69, leaving Coroners Court on Tuesday March 10, 2025

Addressing the families of those injured and killed, Mr Swale described the incident as an “incomprehensible tragedy” and apologised.

“It has been rather traumatising I guess to me as well and I think of them from the moment I wake up to the moment I sleep and they are always with me,” he said.

“We’re getting on better now but they’re always with me ... this as a catastrophe, it should not have happened and I'm devastated I was a part of it.”

A month after the crash, Mr Swale was charged with serious driving offences however these were later thrown out of court after a magistrate concluded he had no case to answer.

Mr Swale had previously filed an objection to giving evidence on the grounds he could incriminate himself.

Late last year, Ms Dubrow found the public interest outweighed the prejudice against Mr Swale, granting him a certificate that precludes any of his evidence from being used against him in the future.

The inquest continues.