A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to at least four years in prison over a horrific car crash that killed a 36-year-old woman in Darwin last year.
Peter Lynch pleaded guilty to driving in a dangerous manner, manslaughter, and recklessly endangering life, following the crash in the early hours of May 16, 2021.
The prosecution told the ABC it was the first time someone had been charged with reckless manslaughter for a vehicle-related death in the territory.
Lynch was the driver of a small hatchback carrying four adult passengers that was involved in a police pursuit prior to the crash.
The car ran a red light at the intersection of Trower Road and Lakeside Drive, in the Darwin suburb of Alawa, before colliding with another car.
The 36-year-old woman was a passenger in Lynch's car and died at the scene, while all other occupants were taken to hospital for treatment.
Both Lynch and the driver of the other vehicle were also injured in the crash.
On Tuesday, members of the victim's family watched the sentencing in Darwin Supreme Court via video link from the community of Ngukurr.
Court heard driver tried to evade police
Justice Stephen Southwood said Lynch had a high moral culpability for the crash, and his actions were motivated by a desire to evade police.
Lynch had initially been pulled over by police in the Darwin CBD, before driving off at speed.
He was seen driving on the wrong side of the road two times, ignoring a stop sign, and driving through two red lights in the lead-up to the crash.
"The offending is very serious offending, the offender's driving was extremely dangerous," Justice Southwood said.
"The offender knew that the manner of his driving was so reckless as to risk of death, that the offender is responsible for the manslaughter of the deceased."
Justice Southwood said the circumstances in which Lynch decided to drive were also aggravating and said he did not accept Mr Lynch's explanation that he was driving his partner to the hospital.
"The offender engaged in his criminal conduct while being unlicensed to drive a motor vehicle, by having not slept for a number of days, and being aware that he was still suffering from the effects of coming down from using methamphetamine," he said.
"He was not high or intoxicated or under the influence of methamphetamine at the time."
A 'reasonable and fair' outcome
Justice Southwood accepted that Lynch's "deprived upbringing" did reduce his moral culpability, but said it remained high nevertheless.
He said Lynch's education was interrupted from a young age, before he dropped out of school, left home, and lived on the streets from the age of 13 or 14, where he was exposed to alcohol and drug abuse and a "criminal lifestyle".
"As a result, evading police and engaging in dangerous conduct, while coming down from using methamphetamine would be learned and normalised behaviour," he said.
However, Justice Southwood did not accept anecdotal evidence given by Lynch of abuse he'd suffered as a child, including by police and while in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre.
Outside court, Lynch's lawyer Beth Wild said it was a "reasonable and fair" outcome.
"Mr Lynch himself accepts full responsibility for his actions, and he too was happy with the result."
He was sentenced to a total of eight years in prison with a non-parole period of four years, backdated to May 16, 2021.
