While driving his white BMW SUV, he experienced a serious hypoglycemic episode, leading to a blackout and a collision with patrons outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel at approximately 6:07 p.m. on November 5, 2023.
He mentioned that he typically kept jellybeans and snacks in his vehicle to manage sudden drops in blood sugar, and on the day of the incident, his car contained fruit and nuts.
Despite these precautions, he did not consume anything as his blood sugar levels plummeted to 2.9mmol/L within the hour preceding the accident.
“At that point, I was experiencing hypoglycemia and was incapable of making logical decisions,” Swale explained.
After attending a clay shooting event over the weekend in Clunes, he decided to stop in Daylesford to visit the Winespeake Cellar + Deli for food.
Records indicated that Swale likely checked his blood glucose monitoring device at about 5:17 p.m., confirming his blood sugar had fallen to 2.9mmol/L, a fact he acknowledged.
He felt “dark” and “vague” as he entered the deli but was told he couldn’t get a table, and the last thing he remembered was leaving the store, he said.
Asked whether he tried to get takeaway food, Swale said “no because I was in a very, very hypoglycaemic state at the time”.
The court was told his device’s alarm went off 10 times to indicate he had low glucose, but Swale said he did not hear it.
After leaving the deli, the next thing he said he remembered was speaking to paramedics at the scene.
