A magistrate who acquitted a garbage truck driver for running over a homeless man sleeping on a mattress has taken aim at the "disgraceful waste problem of affluent Sydney" which could see others face the same charge.
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Ian Juurik was cleared in Downing Centre Local Court on Monday of negligent driving causing the death of 31-year-old Mathew Hayne on Bourke Lane in Redfern in May 2018, having mistaken the man for a pile of blankets.
He'd been asleep on a thin foam mattress when he was struck by the truck's front wheels and died at the scene.
Many of Mr Juurik's council colleagues testified at his hearing in March about their day-to-day work experience.
"We heard a lot of evidence of the circumstances that confront Sydney's garbage collectors every day with the disgraceful waste problem of affluent Sydney flooding the streets," magistrate Jennifer Giles said on Monday.
"The (City of Sydney) council picks up bulk household waste every Wednesday but it is placed out on the street every day with no thought for commuters or pedestrians or traffic.
"Mattresses, we were told, are a particular problem because council has had to contract out their collection to an unreliable, intermittent private contractor. So mattresses stay on the street for weeks on end."
She said all of the garbage truck drivers who gave evidence admitted to having driven over mattresses in the past.
"While hard obstacles are moved away from in front of the truck, there simply isn't enough room on these narrow back lanes to move everything to one side of the street to get the truck through," the magistrate said.
"They can only stack it between the cars or against the cars on one side and soft things like mattresses are ... driven over.
"In addresses, the DPP (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) accused all of these drivers of being negligent and falling the standard of the reasonably prudent driver because they had driven over mattresses that were in their way."
City of Sydney's director of city services, David Riordan, made a statement to media outside court on Monday, confirming Mr Juurik still works for the council.
"This was a very tragic event and the city sends its sympathies and condolences to the family (of Mr Hayne)," he said.
"We are constantly reviewing our processes and procedures to ensure the safety not only of our staff, who are first and foremost, but also the residents, community and visitors to the city."
Australian Associated Press
