South Australia's Court of Criminal Appeal has reduced the sentence handed to a drug driver who killed two brothers in a head-on crash south of Adelaide.
Mojtaba Mohammadi, 31, and his brother Mohammad Jawad Mohammadi, 28, died when Michelle Kendy Bubner drove onto the wrong side of Victor Harbor Road at Mount Jagged in May 2020.
The two men were travelling to Victor Harbor to pick up an item they had seen advertised on Gumtree when Bubner, who was returning from work as a cleaner, crashed head-on into their van.
There was no evidence Bubner braked or swerved to avoid the head-on collision on a 100kph road.
Bubner was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time and pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death by dangerous driving.
She was sentenced to nine years in jail but appealed that sentence, claiming it was "disproportionately high to the objective seriousness of the offending and her personal circumstances".
On Thursday, the Court of Criminal Appeal found the sentence handed to Bubner was "manifestly excessive" and re-sentenced her to six years and nine months in jail with a non-parole period of five years and five months.
In their published judgement, Justice Mark Livesey, Justice Sam Doyle and Justice Sophie David said Bubner had accepted full responsibility for her offending, expressed her remorse and made considerable efforts to address her poor mental health and use of illicit drugs.
"The consequences of the applicant's driving are that two brothers, young men with their futures ahead of them, have lost their lives.
"Notwithstanding the serious aspects of the offending … and the need for the principles of deterrence and the paramountcy to be afforded the protection and safety of the community, we have reached the conclusion that the starting point for each sentence was too high and outside the permissible range for each offence.
"The sentence was disproportionate to the criminality of the applicant's conduct, including the seriousness of the offending and her personal circumstances."
Bubner's sentence has been backdated to October 2021 when she was taken into custody.
She will also be banned from driving for 10 years when she is released from prison.
The District Court previously heard that the widowed Afghan mother of Mojtaba and Mohammad Jawad Mohammadi had moved to Australia to provide a safe haven for her children.
"We started from scratch but I was happy and grateful knowing that my children were safe here," Najibeh told the court during sentencing submissions.
"My caring and empathetic boys did not deserve to die so young with their life ahead of them.
She told the court she was proud of her sons, who worked hard and supported their extended family in Iran and Afghanistan.
"We have their photos all over the house, we light up candles in their memory every day, we visit them every week at the cemetery," Najibeh wrote.
"I truly believe and feel this woman has taken everything from me; I feel my life is over now.
"I have lost my two precious and loving sons, no parent should ever have to go through such pain, especially at the hands of someone else."
