How BMW driver Bill Swale sipped champagne and beer earlier than he killed 5 individuals when he ploughed by means of Daylesford pub beer backyard – however nonetheless had all expenses towards him dropped

The wealthy property tycoon who killed five people when he mowed down pubgoers during a diabetic seizure had drunk champagne and beer before the tragedy. 

On Tuesday, Bill Swale, 59, was forced to appear at the Coroner’s Court of Victoria after losing his bid to avoid giving evidence. 

In January, Coroner Dimitra Dubrow ordered Swale to face the inquest despite fears his appearance could prompt fresh charges. 

Swale was driving home from a two-day clay shooting competition in Clunes when his BMW X5 crashed into an outdoor dining area at the Royal Daylesford Hotel about 6pm on November 5, 2023.

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

Swale was originally charged with five counts of culpable driving causing death, two counts of negligently causing serious injury and seven counts of reckless conduct endangering life. 

But the case was thrown out after a magistrate found the evidence he was at fault, rather than overcome by a medical episode, was weak and there was a minimal chance of conviction.

Swale’s barrister Dermot Dann, KC, had previously tried to have Swale excused from giving evidence at the coronial inquest, fearing his honest answers could land him back in court, despite being told he’d be given a certificate indemnifying him against prosecution. 

But the coroner ruled his evidence was too important to the inquest. 

‘Without Mr Swale’s evidence, findings as to circumstances remain significantly incomplete and mean that the opportunity to make recommendations to prevent such an occurrence from happening again that are anything more than general is limited,’ the coroner said in January.

‘In turn such general recommendations risk being ineffectual from a prevention perspective.’

Forced into the witness box, Swale revealed he had enjoyed a glass of champagne with fellow shooters in the hours before the tragedy. 

He drank the champagne with a Shepherd’s Pie before having beer later that afternoon. 

Swale claimed he could not recall what kind of beer he consumed, but thought they were likely mid-strength. 

Toxicology tests on Swale conducted by forensic experts following the crash found no traces of alcohol in his system. 

Swale claimed alcohol traditionally had little effect on his glucose levels. 

‘It doesn’t make a dramatic difference,’ he said. 

CCTV played to the court showed Swale parked in the middle of the road outside a bowls club shortly before the crash. 

The club had been just around the corner from a wine bar where Swale was last seen before crashing his car into the victims.  

He has no memory of being parked on the road, attending the wine bar or crashing into the pubgoers. 

The footage showed Swale eventually performed a U-turn before driving off in the other direction. 

The court heard he almost crashed into another car on Albert Street, before he managed to steer out of the way. 

Swale told the court he could not recall any alarms on his devices to indicate his blood sugar levels had reached critical levels at any stage leading up to the crash. 

The court heard Swale had fruit and nuts in his car, but did not eat any despite feeling off.

‘I just remember feeling very hazy and that it was dark as if it was 10 o’clock at night,’ Swale told the court.

In November 2024, the Director of Victoria’s Office of Public Prosecutions Brendan Kissane, KC, claimed charges against Swale were dropped due to expert evidence that he could not have acted rationally on the day.

‘Two medical experts gave evidence at the committal that they could not rule out Mr Swale, a long-term type 1 diabetic, was suffering a severe hypoglycaemic episode that commenced before the relevant driving leading to the collision,’ he said at the time.

‘The implication of this evidence was that it was possible Mr Swale was so impaired throughout the relevant period as to be incapable of acting consciously.

‘The experts’ evidence on this point effectively deprived the Crown case of reasonable prospects of success.’

Swale was the first witness called in the inquest, which is expected to run over the next two weeks. 

Daily Mail revealed in August that Swale had moved to Korumburra, in Victoria’s east, close to mushroom killer Erin Patterson’s home in nearby Leongatha. 

Swale refused to offer any explanation to the victims’ families about why he did not want to help the coroner.

‘Go away,’ he said as he crossed the road to a nearby pharmacist.

Swale dismissed all further questions about the concerns of his victims’ families and turned his back as he tried to avoid the issue.

He also declined to reveal why he moved 200km from his old home in Mount Macedon, north-west of Melbourne, to Korumburra in the state’s south-east.