A pregnant drug driver will appeal her two-year sentence for crashing into a semi-trailer while high on cannabis and killing her friend.
Rebecca Lee Greatley, 25, launched the appeal a day after she was sent to prison for a minimum 18 months on Tuesday.
The charity worker drove through a stop sign and into the path of the truck near Port Pirie, 200kms north of Adelaide, in May 2016.
The crash killed 26-year-old Jamie Dumbleton, a British backpacker, and left Ms Greatley with a brain injury that made her forgetful.
Rebecca Lee Greatley (right), 25, will appeal her two-year sentence for drug driving north of Adelaide and killing friend and British backpacker Jamie Dumbleton (left), 26
Ms Greatley launched the appeal a day after she was sent to prison for a minimum 18 months on Tuesday
Mr Dumbleton, 26, a right-hand rear-seat passenger, was killed instantly after the semi-trailer collided with the silver Hyundai sedan
Her appeal comes amid fresh debate about the lack of facilities for expectant mothers in the South Australian prison system, Adelaide Now reported.
It’s believed she will argue in court next week that a suspended jail term or home detention will be a more appropriate sentence.
Only ten criminals have given birth while in jail and a further 100 have received antenatal care before being released, Corrections Department figures tendered to court reportedly show.
Babies delivered in jail are then given to a relative or a child protection official, and the prisoner is returned to jail.
District Court Judge Stephen McEwen admitted on Tuesday that sentencing a pregnant woman was ‘a very difficult exercise’, and any judgement would be found harsh in the defendant’s eyes.
He added: ‘As against all that, from the victims’ families’ perspectives, whatever sentence I impose will seem inadequate for the loss of a life. I acknowledge there is merit in each of those perspectives,’ according to the publication.
It’s believed Ms Greatley will argue in court next week that a suspended jail term or home detention will be a more appropriate sentence for the crash (pictured)
The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving, before appealing for a suspended sentence to avoid being separated from her unborn child.
Ms Greatley had been driving erratically before the crash, despite objections from her passengers, and her actions meant her offending was not at the lower end of the scale and warranted an immediate jail term, the prosecutor said.
Ms Greatley was said to have wailed and sobbed uncontrollably upon learning of her sentence in court.
Ms Greatley, a ‘nightly user’ of cannabis, had been driving erratically before the horrific crash
Two other passengers, colleagues Lauren Canciani (right) and Dylan James O’Donnell-Middleton (left), from Adelaide-based charity The Fundraising People were seriously injured in the collision
Mr Dumbleton, a right-hand rear-seat passenger, was killed instantly after the semi-trailer collided with the silver Hyundai sedan.
Two other passengers, colleagues Lauren Canciani and Dylan James O’Donnell-Middleton, from Adelaide-based charity The Fundraising People, were seriously injured.
Judge McEwan accepted Ms Greatley was ‘remorseful’ for the accident, but said he could not find a reasonable explanation to suspend her sentence or place her on home detention.
Ms Greatley, who was reportedly a ‘nightly user’ of cannabis, was also banned from driving for 10 years.