Parent’s urgent call for change after 14-year-old boy left to die on the roadside for six hours

The parents of a 14-year-old boy who was left on the side of the road for six hours after a fatal hit and run are pushing for tougher sentences and the closure of legal “loopholes”.

Bryson Dimovski was riding his bike to his Lake Macquarie home near Newcastle in July 2023 when he was struck by a car, his body rolling down an embankment.

The driver, 21-year-old Jaycob Gemza, did not assist Dimovski, instead driving off and leaving the boy to die.

His body was not found for six hours.

For Bryson’s parents, Andrew and Melissa, the pain is still raw three years later.

“He just left him there," Andrew told A Current Affair.

“He ran back to his car, drove off and left Bryson for dead. Like he was nothing, [but] he wasn't nothing.”

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Mother Melissa claimed her son had been left on the side of the road “like road kill”.

“Not being able to hold him when he passed, is something very distressing as a mother,” she told A Current Affair.

The pair remembered Bryson as a passionate and charismatic boy, who loved fixing things, including motorbikes and computers.

However, his life was tragically cut short after Gemza veered onto the hard shoulder and struck the boy while he was looking at his phone.

Gemza had allegedly consumed three full-strength beers at the pub, and had bought a fourth before getting behind the wheel.

He did not turn himself in until seeing a post on Facebook that said Dimovski was missing.

However, the time it took to turn himself in meant that, legally, police could not test Gemza for drugs and alcohol.

This is because in New South Wales, police only have a four-hour window to conduct such tests.

The Dimovski’s now want those laws to change.

“If you refuse a random breath test, you get charged with high range. But if you leave a scene of a crash, essentially you're refusing a test by removing yourself from the crash, but there's no consequence for that,” he claimed.

Gemza pleaded guilty to failing to stop and assist, negligent and dangerous driving.

The maximum charge for each offence is 10 years’ imprisonment; Gemza was handed a three years and three months prison sentence in April.

“We’ve got a life sentence, he doesn’t have a life sentence,” Melissa said.

The Dimovski’s are now seeking to make laws surrounding fatal hit and run offences tougher, including expanding the window that drug and alcohol testing can be conducted.

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A petition was sent to the state government, asking them to “increase penalties for failing to stop after fatal crashes [and] treat those who flee like those who refuse testing”; it garnered 20,000 signatures in support.

However, the proposed “Bryson’s Law” was rejected by the attorney general, Michael Daley, earlier this month.

The Dimovski’s will keep fighting, and insist they are not seeking retribution for their tragic loss.

“It's not about revenge. It's about accountability,” Andrew said.

“It's about deterrence, so no other family walks in our shoes.”