Former Collingwood player Shannon Cox pleads guilty to manslaughter after double fatal crash in Wheatbelt

A former Collingwood player has pleaded guilty to manslaughter after killing two women in a horrific Wheatbelt car crash. Shannon Cox was initially charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death over the head-on crash in the town of Cooljarloo, about 170km north of Perth, just before 9am on June 7. It involved the 39-year-old’s Toyota Prado, a Volvo road train towing two trailers and a Suzuki Ignis on Brand Highway. Two women in the Suzuki — close friends Thelma Clausen, 82, and Coral Seinor, 83 — died at the scene. The 31-year-old man driving the road train was not hurt. The charges were then upgraded to unlawfully killing in circumstances not constituting murder, which Cox pleaded guilty to in Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on Wednesday. He appeared via video link from Greenough Regional Prison, where he had his birthday on March 7. Cox was previously out on bail. But when he fronted Geraldton Magistrates Court in November, the court was told he had breached it by taking methylamphetamine. Kojonup-born but now based in the Geraldton suburb of Spalding, he was not injured in the crash but his 12-year-old daughter was treated for minor injuries by paramedics. Cox was rookie-listed by Collingwood in 2005 and played 25 games for the club. He retired ahead of the 2010 season, citing a loss of passion for the game. After leaving the AFL, Cox switched to country football, most recently playing for Rovers in the Great Northern Football League in 2022. He played for Donnybrook, Quairading and the Collie Eagles in 11 years as he moved around the State. Pre-sentence and psychological reports will be obtained ahead of sentencing on August 26.