Peter Bruce Mitchell: Esperance truckie accused of fatal Jerramungup crash to fight charges in District Court

An Esperance truck driver who allegedly killed a couple in a horror highway crash in Jerramungup earlier this year will fight the two charges against him in Albany District Court. Peter Bruce Mitchell, 59, appeared via audio link in the Albany Magistrates Court on Thursday from the Esperance Magistrates Court to plead not guilty to two counts of dangerous driving in circumstances which subsequently resulted in a death. He is accused of causing the deaths of a man and a woman in a crash on South Coast Highway near Jerramungup after the Kenworth truck he was driving collided with the couple’s Isuzu D-Max ute and caravan. Police told reporters at the time both the Isuzu and the truck were travelling east between Jerramungup and Ravensthorpe when they collided on April 17. They said the man and woman in the Isuzu died from their injuries at the scene, and the 59-year-old truck driver was taken to Albany Health Campus for treatment. Magistrate Erin O’Donnell sent the charges to the Albany District Court for a trial listing hearing on February 4, 2026, but did not grant Mr Mitchell leave to continue appearing via video link from Esperance. Defence counsel Leo Hartley said he would continue to liaise with the District Court to allow Mr Mitchell to answer bail closer to home in Esperance before the trial got under way.