Man in court charged over Mount Richmond double-fatality collision

David Frost, 51, of Tyrendarra, made an unsuccessful bail application in the online division of Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Steve Mottram, of the Victoria Police major collision investigation unit, said methamphetamine and amphetamine was found in Mr Frost's blood in the hours after the horror crash that claimed the lives of Megan Grayling, 43, and her 16-year-old daughter Erynn.

He alleged Mr Frost was driving west on the Portland-Nelson Road in a Jeep Cherokee at 10.21am on Christmas Eve last year when he travelled onto the wrong side of the road, colliding head on with a Holden Trax travelling east.

The detective said the teenage girl was behind the wheel with her mother acting as the supervising driver. The pair died at the scene.

A 15-year-old girl in the rear passenger seat of the Holden suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to the Royal Children's Hospital in a critical condition.

The court heard she spent three weeks in hospital receiving treatment and continued to be treated at home for her injuries.

Mr Frost was also airlifted to hospital with a cracked sternum and fractured lower back and wrist.

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The court heard Mr Frost had a criminal history that included historic driving offences, including multiple losses of licence for speeding, drink driving and careless driving.

On one occasion he blew .132 and his licence was disqualified for more than 30 months.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Mottram said police believed if Mr Frost was released on bail he would continue to drive, placing members of the community at further risk of serious injury or death.

Mr Frost's mother Marilyn told the court her son resided with her on the family farm in Tyrendarra and worked there full-time after the death of their husband and father in 2019.

She said Mr Frost was critical to the running of the farm and would be unable to drive a motor vehicle due to an infection to his wrist which was injured in the crash.

But police prosecutor Senior Constable Paul Harris said if the man could drive a tractor on the family farm, he was capable of driving a motor vehicle.

The prosecutor said Mr Frost previously told a court on at least three occasions that he would not drink or drug drive again.

"He has now been dealt with on no less than 12 occasions for offences of drink or drug driving, each time endangering the safety and welfare of other road users and resulting in a licence suspension," he said.

"And now he is back before the court in relation to what one would say is the most significant and worst kind of outcome for that type of driving. "

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Lawyer Neil Howard said Mr Frost's family was willing to provide a $25,000 bail surety.

He said his client's "serious infection" to the bone required surgery interventions that were better accessed outside the prison.

But magistrate Steven Raleigh said there was no evidence that the man was not receiving the necessary medical treatment in custody.

Bail was refused and Mr Frost was remanded in custody until a later date.

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