Jack Aston is cooking spring rolls that he learnt how to make during his time in prison for his family on Christmas Day.
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It is the first year in some time he and his family have had a reason to celebrate at Christmas.
There is a wooden Christmas tree in the lounge room of their Brown Hill home and a bunch of neatly wrapped presents underneath.
Jack and his wife Wendy talk about a photo they took on Sunday with their children Meg and Ben when The Courier visits on Monday.
It was taken at the American Hotel in Creswick while they were celebrating Jack's birthday. They are planning to add it to the framed family photos on the wall.
The smiles in the photo create a mood starkly different to what the Astons were experiencing this time last year.
"Last birthday I was walking around the yard in Port Phillip Prison watching two other guys in the yard beside me stab each other," Jack said, as we speak sitting at the dining table in the family home.
Jack was sentenced to five years and three months in jail, with a non-parole period of two-and-a- half years on December 17, 2018.
On October 23, 2018 a jury found him guilty of six charges of negligent driving causing serious injury for crashing the bus he was driving into the notoriously low Montague Street Bridge on February 22 2016.
Almost one year later and after 301 days behind bars, Jack was freed from prison on October 14 2019.
After an appeal of his conviction and sentence, Justices Phillip Priest, Stephen Kaye and David Beach quashed the original convictions and replaced them with six convictions of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
He was re-sentenced to time served with a community corrections order and was allowed to return home.
"A lot of people have been saying it is going to be a good Christmas for us," Wendy said.
"It is going to be a good Christmas, but it does bring back memories that are not nice.
"You keep thinking back. This time last year we were down at the rally. It was not like it was just one day that something happened. Every day there is something that brings us back to that time."
For Jack, the daily reminder is the pain in his neck he has experienced every day since breaking it in the accident.
A reminder of prison is the constant pain in his knee. He tore his cartilage slipping on a wet laundry floor in prison in February.
You just have little reminders all the time. I want to just forget about it and move on," Jack said.
"We try to be happy. Well, we have been.
"Hopefully we can create new memories now."
Reflecting on the past four years brings back memories of difficult times.
It has been a challenge for Jack to re-adjust to everyday life since being released from jail, but Wendy and Jack are positive about their future.
They are both grateful for the help they have received along the way.
Kind friends and strangers have gifted them time away in their holiday homes in the months since his release.
It seems the time away has been integral to helping Jack cope since leaving prison.
He still suffers anxiety, particularly in confined spaces and as a passenger on a bus, and experiences recurring nightmares where he is watching other drivers crash into the Montague Street Bridge.
But Jack said time spent with friends in Lorne last week has helped ease his anxiety.
"I am trying to stay positive, which is hard. Being in Lorne was just so good for the soul, with the swimming and the beach," he said.
"I think it is the peacefulness too," Wendy said.
"For me that has been really important, not to be around a lot of chaos."
Thinking about the court and prison system remains frustrating for the Aston family.
They maintain a horrible feeling that no one has been held accountable for the mistakes made during Jack's County Court trial.
The Court of Appeal judges criticised the way the first trial was conducted in October last year and the role of prosecutor Robert Barry, the defence counsel and trial judge Bill Stuart.
The judgement reads: "Remarkably, at the close of the evidence and before closing addresses in the present case, neither the prosecutor nor defence counsel informed the trial judge that dangerous driving causing serious injury was an alternative verdict.
"Indeed, there is no indication that his Honour knew of the statutory alternative.
"Fairness to the accused may require that the jury be directed of the availability of the alternative verdict. In such a case the failure to do so would be a miscarriage of justice."
On the day of the appeal, Justice Phillip Priest said: "This is basic trial practice. I'd expect a prosecutor to know, defence to know and, with all respect, the judge should have known."
They had failed to meet their legal obligations.
Mr Aston's original conviction of six counts of negligent driving causing serious injury were overturned to become the lesser charge of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
"The court system is just wrong," Mr Aston said.
"I had an accident. I got hurt, other people got hurt. I had an accident but I didn't willfully break the law. I didn't mean to have the accident.
"But the prosecutor, the judge and my defence lawyer, they know the law, they know how it works - that is their profession. The prosecution should have known to present the two charges to the jury but he didn't... My defence lawyer should have known better.
"How are they going to get punished? Are they going to go to jail? It is wrong."
Facing media as he walked free from jail, Jack departed with a direct message for Premier Daniel Andrews.
"Now, Dan Andrews," he said.
"If you really do care about the people of Victoria, before that bridge takes a life - fix it!"
Only last week another truck hit the notorious Montague Street Bridge.
The bridge is famous for regular hits by vehicles above its three-metre clearance.
Jack said he would continue advocating for changes to the bridge, although he laughed and admitted he was like a 'cave man' when it came to social media.
"Oh jeez, I would love to see it fixed," he said.
"Someone is going to die. They have to fix it.
"Professional drivers use the road. That is our place of work."
"You sort of think we were going through all of this to get something done," Wendy said.
"That at least if they fixed it we have gone through all this to save someone's life."
For now, Jack is also channeling his energy to returning to work as a parts manager at Inland Motor Body Works.
He worked a few full days last week and will aim to return full time next year.
Jack and Wendy are also still busy trying to thank everyone who supported them throughout the difficult times, while Jack is continuing appointments with his psychologist and community corrections officer.
He said he has learnt to be aware of his emotions and feelings.
"When I got out of jail I didn't know how to feel. Everything was foreign, it was weird. It is still a bit weird but it is getting better," he said.
"Family life is what it is all about. Enjoying yourself. And getting back to walking those dogs and being with them is the best.
"Thank you to people in Ballarat. Thank you for your positive thoughts and the things people have done for us. I love Ballarat."
TIMELINE: 1,330 days of heartache and pain
February 22, 2016: The day of the crash
It began as just another day at work for Jack Aston, a hot late summer's day, as he ferried 14 passengers between the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and a hotel on the St Kilda Road. He had begun earlier in the day, taking V/Line passengers from Ballarat to Melbourne.
The route, which he was unfamiliar with, took the bus via the Montague Street Bridge, which at 3m high is the lowest in the metropolitan network and a notorious accident blackspot. At 10.22am, the 3.6-metre high Gold Bus he was driving collided with the bridge while travelling at 56 km per hour. The impact pushed the front and roof of the bus back to the fifth row of seats.
Eleven passengers were taken to hospital, six of them with serious injuries including spinal and skull fractures, lacerations and abrasions.
One image shows a bloodied Mr Aston slumped on the ground just after the crash.
October 19, 2016: Facing court
Mr Aston faced court at the Melbourne Magistrates Court charged with negligent driving and causing serious injury.
October 22, 2018: Trial and guilty verdict
After a two-week trial at the County Court in Melbourne, Jack Aston was found guilty of six charges of negligently causing serious injury. Judge Bill Stuart granted him bail ahead of sentencing.
December 17, 2018: Sentenced to more than five years
Jack Aston was sentenced to five years and three months in jail, with a non-parole period of two-and-a- half years.
While Judge Stuart accepted that Mr Aston was a man of excellent character who had contributed in all sorts of way to the community and was suffering genuine remorse, he said it was "astonishing" Mr Aston had not seen the low clearance of the bridge.
Despite Mr Aston's glowing character references from the then Gold Bus company director Donald McKenzie, as well as his family and friends, he received a punitive jail term that shocked his supporters. Judge Bill Stuart said that deterrence was the "principal sentencing factor". Mr Aston's licence was also suspended for three years.
At the sentencing, his family and loved ones wept and cried out to him: "love you dad", "we're always here for you Jack" and "you're a good man".
You can read the full sentencing remarks from the Judge Bill Stuart here.
December 19, 2018: Family reveals shock at sentence
The family spoke of their shock at the long sentence handed down to Mr Aston. "It has changed him as a person," his daughter Meg told The Courier. Ms Aston also said that her father did not believe them initially when he was told nobody had died. Mr Aston did not speak for two days after the crash, she said.
Wendy Aston also said that the family planned to appeal the sentencing.
December 21, 2018:'Bring back our Jack' campaign starts
The #freejack campaign begins to emerge as the family rallies around to build awareness of the Mr Aston's situation. Meg Aston organises a rally in support of her father - and to campaign for changes to the accident blackspot - under the Montague Street Bridge itself.
The family says they will go and visit Mr Aston for his birthday and on Christmas Day.
January 2019: Appeal lodged
The family lodged the appeal against Mr Aston's jail term, after requesting an extension to the deadline of 28 days as they waited for the court to provide documents.
February 2019: Community writes letters to Jack Aston in jail
Support and sympathy for the campaign builds among the local community, with people in writing to Mr Aston in jail as a show of support.
"Hope to see you home soon again where you belong mate," one letter reads.
April 2019: Attorney General pressured
To keep the pressure on, Mr Aston's family asked supporters to write to the Victoria Attorney General in protest against the sentence handed down to Mr Aston.
From Mr Aston tells of how thankful he is for the community support in the six months since his jailing. In a letter of thanks to Gold Bus, he says: "My faith in good people and the hope of good things to come will keep me strong."
July 30: Date set for appeal
The date for Mr Aston's appeal is set for October 7. "We are all feeling totally relieved. I spoke to Jack today and he feels the same," Wendy Aston said.
October 7: Convictions overturned
There were six grounds for the appeal, but ultimately only one was required. The three appeal judges said prosecutors in the original trial had made a mistake by not raising the possibility of a less serious alternative charge of dangerous driving. Mr Aston was convicted instead of six counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
The maximum penalty is double that of the less serious charge, so he will be re-sentenced.
One of the appeal judges, Justice Phillip Priest, was sharply critical of the oversight at the original trial. "This is basic trial practice," he said. "I'd expect a prosecutor to know, defence to know and, with all respect, the judge should have known."
October 14: Re-sentencing
Jack Aston is re-sentenced. In emotional scenes, the judges allow him to walk free from jail.
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Rochelle Kirkham
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
Rochelle covers court and has a particular interest in social issues including homelessness, food security and family violence.
