The father of two young boys killed in a horror car crash has received sickening phone calls from people threatening to bash him.
Sheldon, six, and Shane Shorey, seven, died after allegedly being mowed down by unlicensed driver Jacob Steven Donn, 25, in Wellington in the NSW central west on January 5.
Their father Joseph Shorey and mum Shayleen Frail – who suffered a broken leg and spinal injuries in the crash – are arguing over whether the boys should be cremated or buried.
Mr Shorey said since the family feud began, he has been on the receiving end of a series of threatening phone calls and Facebook messages.
Sheldon Shorey (left), 6, and his brother Shane (right), 7, were killed when an out-of-control car allegedly driven by Jacob Steven Donn, 35, ploughed into them on Warne Street, Wellington, on January 5
‘I’ve received a couple of threats over the phone and a couple of nasty Facebook messages calling me a grub and all this, telling me to give Shayleen what she wants,’ Mr Shorey told The Dubbo News.
Daily Mail Australia understands both the mother and the father have hired lawyers to settle the burial disagreement.
‘I’ve received threats like “I’m gonna bash you” and all this… “the kids don’t belong with you”,’ Mr Shorey said.
He said he was even falsely accused of spending money from online fundraisers – set up to pay for the boys’ funeral costs – on a Rolex watch and a new car for himself.
Mr Shorey said he bought both the watch and the car several years ago.
The father also revealed the heartbreaking moment he saw his sons’ bodies in the morgue after their death.
The boys are pictured with their father Joseph Shorey. He has revealed he has been on the receiving end of sickening messages from strangers threatening to bash him
Joseph Shorey (left) and Shayleen Frail (right) remain at odds over the best way to lay their two sons Sheldon, 6, and Shane Shorey, 7, to rest almost two weeks after a car crash in New South Wales that claimed their lives
‘Shane had a habit of pretending to be asleep in the mornings, when I saw him in the morgue I was like “get up boy, stop pretending”. I was just hoping he was going to wake up with his little smile,’ he said.
Mr Shorey said he believes the best compromise is to cremate the bodies of his boys so he and Ms Frail can both always feel close to them.
But Ms Frail told Nine News her sons must be buried in Wellington.
‘Wellington most definitely was and still is their home, they started off their little lives here,’ she said.
‘They need to come home, they need to be buried here in Wellington where they are loved, where their family is.’
Despite the tragedy occurring in Wellington, the boys only spent a few years of their lives there.
Shane was born in Dubbo in 2011, before they moved to Mudgee ahead of Sheldon’s birth in 2014, Mr Shorey explained the day after their death.
Police allege Donn was performing burnouts on Warne Street in his red Holden (pictured) when he lost control, mounted the gutter and hit the group of five pedestrians
Ms Frail (pictured) spent 11 days in hospital after suffering a broken leg and spinal injuries in the crash
They moved to Wellington two years later, but Ms Frail would spend almost two out of the next four years in prison.
This led to Mr Shorey moving up to Queensland with his three boys.
He said he believes cremating his sons is the best possible resolution, so that both parents can still feel close to their sons.
‘I’m not going to bury them in Emerald, in Queensland, because it’s too far for them to travel,’ he said.
‘We both love our kids dearly and they’ve spent time with both of us, that’s why the cremation idea is a sensible one.
‘It’s not the first option, but it’s the best. We both get to have our babies close to us.’
While the argument over funeral arrangements rages, NSW Police continue to investigate the moments before the crash.
Donn is facing a total of 14 charges, including dangerous driving occasioning death and drug possession
Police initially believed Ms Frail, her sons and two other boys were leaving the local swimming pool when they were allegedly struck by an out-of-control Mr Donn.
But Daily Mail Australia revealed the group had actually only just arrived on Warne St.
Instead of going straight to the water, a surviving boy told loved ones that Ms Frail instead took them ‘to see the man in the red car first’.
‘[The surviving boy] got out of the car and said to Shayleen: “The pool’s this way?”‘ a source said.
‘Shayleen said to him: “I’m just going to see the man in the red car first”.’
Donn was allegedly at the wheel of a red Holden when he crashed into the group.
When he was later arrested by police, officers allegedly found a prohibited drug in his possession.
The boys’ father Joseph Shorey (pictured in blue) made an emotional visit to the scene a day after the crash, having driven through the night from his Queensland home
Mr Shorey lays a hand on the broken black fence that Donn’s red Holden allegedly ploughed through
The results of mandatory blood tests for drugs and alcohol are yet to be returned.
In the aftermath of the crash, Mr Shorey drove through the night from Queensland to visit the scene of the tragedy.
Mr Shorey had last seen his sons on Monday when they told him they loved him and would see him in just a few weeks upon their return to Queensland, where they lived.
‘I only saw them the day before and they gave me big hugs and cuddles and said: “Dad, we love you, we’ll see you on the 17th”,’ Mr Shorey said.
‘Now I’ve lost my two youngest boys.
‘I can’t believe it mate. I’m so shattered. It is gut wrenching, it is heartbreaking, it is everything you ever imagine it would be.
‘My kids should be burying me, I shouldn’t have to be burying them, they were my world.’
The crash happened just outside the Wellington Aquatic Leisure Centre (pictured) where Ms Frail was intending to take her sons, and two other boys, for a swim
Both parents have told how their children were all incredible sporty and loved the outdoors (Pictured on their scooters above are Shane, left, and Sheldon, right.
Just three days after the crash, on what would have been Shane’s eighth birthday, his family gathered at the Dubbo Pool to celebrate in his memory.
Balloons spelling out his name were released into the sky and his father told those in attendance it was the party he had dreamed of.
In heartwarming footage shared to Facebook, Mr Shorey lit the candles on his late son’s birthday cake while other children in the group sang Happy Birthday.
A GoFundMe page set up to assist him pay for the funerals for his two boys has so far seen more than $25,600 donated.
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