A heavily pregnant young Victorian woman has wept in the dock as she was jailed for causing the death of her friend in a high-speed accident.
On New Year’s Eve 2015, then-18-year-old learner driver Gemma Sargent drove her friends from Ballarat to Geelong, overtaking another car travelling at 130km/h.
She lost control of the car and crashed, causing the death of Nathaniel Merritt-Price and seriously injuring Jolene Bounday.
On New Year’s Eve 2015, 18-year-old Gemma Sargent (pictured) was driving her friends when she overtook a car at excessive speeds, crashed and killed one of her friends while seriously injuring another
Sargent herself was injured in the crash and suffered a broken back, bruising and multiple lacerations.
Judge James Montgomery told the County Court of Victoria on Monday that Sargent, now 20, had been ‘showing off’, attempting a manoeuvre an experienced driver never would have tried.
‘You grossly overestimated your abilities as a driver. There was no need for you to pass a car that was itself driving 30km/h over the speed limit,’ he said.
The 20-year-old is believed to have been begged by her passengers to slow down as she excessively broke the speed limit, the Herald Sun reported.
Nathaniel Merritt-Price (pictured) died and his father said he has never been offered an apology
‘Stop the car, I want to get out, I don’t want to die tonight,’ one reportedly pleaded.
However Sargent refused telling them: ‘You can trust my driving. We’re not going to crash.’
Mr Merritt-Prices’s father, Rodney Price, now must live with the pain of knowing his son was terrified before his death.
‘I can imagine the fear that he was going through before he died.’
Sargent was jailed for eight years for driving causing death and negligent driving
He said his son wanted to get out of the car and Sargent would not listen.
She has never apologised for taking his son away however he said it wouldn’t make a difference if she did.
‘An apology means nothing to me. She’s taken my son’s life. She can say sorry all she likes, it means nothing to me.’
Sargent was jailed for eight years for culpable driving causing death and negligent driving causing serious injury.
She must serve a minimum of five years before being eligible for parole, and will give birth while in custody.