Man given fine for driving charge following footballer's death

A Tasmanian man has been fined less than $500 for a driving crime he was charged with in the wake of a young footballer's death.

In July, a coroner found 21-year-old Brady James Hubbard died on June 28, 2023, from a head injury suffered four days earlier when he fell from the back of Andrew John Hilfenhaus's ute outside the West Ulverstone Football Club.

On Friday, 46-year-old Hilfenahus was convicted and sentenced by Magistrate Katie Edwards for driving a motor vehicle with a passenger in or on part of a vehicle not designed primarily for the carriage of passenger.

He was fined $438.75 and received three demerit points.

Mr Hubbard's name was not mentioned during the sentencing hearing.

Coronial inquest heard driver feared 'trouble with the law'

Mr Hubbard's death was the subject of a 2025 inquest before Coroner Leigh Mackey.

Ms Mackey found that Mr Hubbard and Hilfenhaus's son Cameron were standing on the back of the ute as the elder Hilfenhaus performed a "burnout/skid/fishtail" outside the West Ulverstone football clubhouse.

"In doing so Mr Hubbard became dislodged from the back of the ute and fell onto the driveway causing him to suffer a traumatic head injury," Ms Mackey said.

She said the Hilfenhaus men called on club trainer Anthony Sharman to come outside and assess Mr Hubbard, but despite him being "clearly in some distress", no-one called an ambulance.

She said it was not clear why Mr Sharman had not acted, but said the Hilfenhaus men may have feared Andrew, who had been drinking, would be "in trouble with the law".

"[They] were likely motivated by a desire to obfuscate what had happened to Mr Hubbard and their role in it," she said.

Mr Hubbard presented at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie about 24 hours later complaining of an increasingly severe headache, but he denied any head trauma and did not tell any family or hospital staff of his fall from the ute.

"His motivation for this is unknown," Ms Mackey said.

Mr Hubbard's condition continued to deteriorate and he was transported to the Royal Hobart Hospital the following morning, where he died two days later.

Dead man 'thrown' from back of ute, coroner says

Ms Mackey was clear in her findings of how Mr Hubbard died.

"Mr Hubbard sustained a traumatic brain injury resulting in his death after being thrown from the rear of a utility vehicle driven by Andrew Hilfenhaus," she said.

However, she also noted that the standard of proof for a coronial finding is lower than the standard required in criminal cases, which is "beyond reasonable doubt".

She said Hilfenhaus had pleaded guilty to the criminal charge which was "consistent with his admission [to police] that he had driven with Mr Hubbard and Cameron Hilfenhaus on the rear of the ute".

In sentencing for that charge on Friday, Magistrate Edwards said Hilfenhaus had struggled with the "tragic outcomes" of June 24, 2023.

She said he had been subject to abuse and threats, that his relationship with his son suffered, and that he had relapsed into drug addiction in recent years.

'Persistent offender' jailed for seven months

Magistrate Edwards also sentenced Hilfenhaus for a range of unrelated drug, alcohol and driving-related crimes committed in the years since Mr Hubbard's death.

She said he was a "persistent offender" with an "appalling" record of prior convictions.

He was jailed for seven months and disqualified from driving for 30 months on his release from custody.

Hilfenhaus, appearing in court via video link from prison, appeared to become emotional as Magistrate Edwards delivered her sentence.