The father of former NSW police minister Troy Grant, who claimed he was sleepwalking when involved in a drunken fatal hit-and-run, has been jailed for three years and 10 months.
District Court Judge John Hatzistergos told Ken Grant, 72, there was no escaping the simple fact he had deliberately driven a car when he was in "no fit state to do so" before the crash.
Judge Hatzistergos accepted Grant, a retired police inspector, was genuinely remorseful but had to be jailed because of his high degree of moral culpability.
The judge noted Grant had written a letter to the court saying: "Taking a man's life has left me with the deepest regret and guilt that will live with me forever."
Judge Hatzistergos found in November there was no reasonable possibility Grant had been suffering from somnambulism when he crashed into Tony Greenfield.
Grant claimed he was either sleep walking or had transient global amnesia, a sudden temporary episode of memory loss, or had sleep apnoea and was not driving voluntarily before the crash.
But neurologist Dr David Rosen said it was more likely Grant had an alcoholic blackout.
Grant was found guilty after a judge-alone trial of dangerous driving causing death, failing to stop after a fatal crash, being involved in a police pursuit and drink driving after running into Mr Greenfield at about 11.24pm on November 30, 2019, in Maitland.
The 62-year-old scientist died of his injuries at Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital.
Guests at the party both men had attended described Grant as being "hammered" before getting behind the wheel.
Grant, who returned a blood alcohol level of 0.108 after his arrest and had a later reading of 0.194 from blood tests, claimed to have no memory of the crash which threw Mr Greenfield 20m forward past his wife Nerida when they were walking back to their accommodation.
Judge Hatzistergos on Friday said he had taken into account the powerful victim impact statements from Mrs Greenfield and the couple's daughter Bronwen when determining Grant's sentence.
The judge pointed to how Mrs Greenfield claimed to have a video clip of the last seconds of her husband's life which would be etched in her brain for the rest of her life.
Mrs Greenfield repeatedly relived the accident where she would see her husband flying through the air before Grant drives off.
She still experienced flashbacks remembering how her husband's body felt in her arms when lying on the grass.
The judge highlighted how Bronwen had been baffled at why Grant, once he had sobered up, could not admit what had happened and was only thinking about himself when he denied responsibility.
But Judge Hatzistergos said since the crash Grant was genuinely sorry for what he had done.
When Grant was pulled over by police after the crash and had to be dragged out of his car and handcuffed, he repeatedly told officers he was the police minister's father.
At one stage he told police, "My son is Troy Grant, the police minister, and I'm pissed."
The judge was sitting in Wollongong to deliver sentence, with Grant watching proceedings remotely from a Newcastle court. He will be eligible for parole after one year and 11 months.
