An Adelaide carpenter will spend at least four years in jail for killing a woman in a drunken head-on crash on South Australia's Fleurieu Peninsula more than three years ago.
District Court Judge Emily Telfer sentenced Ty George Martain to five years' jail with a non-parole period of four years for dangerous driving and killing 50-year-old Nadine Varga in McLaren Vale in March 2019.
She refused to suspend the sentence or allow the 25-year-old to serve it on home detention because he knew he was over the limit when he got behind the wheel.
"It's a serious thing to send a young man to jail for the first time," she said during sentencing.
She said Martain knew he had drunk too much, but decided to drive the 60-minute journey back to Adelaide anyway.
"The consequences of your actions have been brought home to you in the most tragic way," Judge Telfer said.
A jury found Martain guilty of the charge after he tried to argue an undiagnosed sleep disorder caused him to fall asleep while driving.
Judge Telfer said Ms Varga had done nothing wrong, but died when Martain veered on to the wrong side of Victor Harbor Road, striking her car head-on.
She said Martain had worked a 10-hour day and then did a gym session and consumed five to six beers with a friend over 80 minutes at Pages Flat before driving.
"You knew your level of alcohol consumption would place you over the legal limit to drive," she said.
"Every occasion of dangerous driving increases the risk to other road users.
"The message from government, police and road safety advocates is loud and clear: People who choose to drink and drive selfishly risk causing death or injury to other road users.
"Your decision to drive after drinking alcohol prioritised your convenience and desires over the safety of everyone else using the road."
Judge Telfer accepted that Martain did have an undiagnosed sleep disorder, but said he would have been aware he lived life in a "chronically tired state".
"The feeling of being sleep deprived is normal for you," she said.
She said the decision to drive knowing he had been drinking alcohol and had trouble with fatigue made his offending even more serious.
Judge Telfer said Martain had shown remorse, had a good work history, contributed to his local community, and had good prospects of rehabilitation.
But she said the seriousness of the offending outweighed all those considerations before she jailed him.
