A drug user who crashed and killed his on-off girlfriend after he tried to run a red light has been jailed for 11 years.
Jahleel Delaine Ahirau Berryman, 28, drove a stolen BMW through a red light and crashed into a Mitsubishi Magna in April last year, killing front seat passenger Kerry Bodney, 31, whose toddler son Robert was murdered nine years prior.
The Western Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday heard Berryman’s passengers were screaming in terror as he tore towards the intersection of Beach Road and Mirrabooka Avenue in Balga in Perth’s north.
The court heard Berryman, who didn’t hold a valid driving licence, wore a ski mask and was high on cannabis and methamphetamine had already been driving erratically when he decided to take on the red light.
The surviving passengers screaming at Berryman to stop, who instead accelerated to 127km/h in a 70km/h zone.
After being hit by the Mitsubishi, the BMW was spun around from the force of the crash and rolled over several times.
Ms Bodney was thrown 15 metres from the car and suffered catastrophic injuries.
She was rushed to hospital, where she died a short time later.
Jahleel Berryman, 28, has been jailed for 11 years over the death of Kerry Bodney, 31, who died in a car he recklessly crashed at a red light
Another passenger Tiana Winmar was also thrown from the car and spent 10 weeks in hospital recovering from her injuries.
Another unnamed passenger also suffered life-threatening injuries.
Witness statements from the time were read in court, with one saying they had never seen anything like it’,’ the ABC reported
After the crash, CCTV showed Berryman, who miraculously escaped from the crash unscathed, turning to look in the direction of Ms Bodey and and his other severely injured passengers before fleeing the scene.
He was later arrested and found to have high levels of drugs in his system.
Berryman was charged with the manslaughter of Ms Bodney, aggravated grievous bodily harm to Ms Winmar and aggravated bodily harm to the other passenger.
He pleaded guilty to all charges in July.
In Tuesday’s sentencing Western Australia Supreme Court justice Bruno Fiannaca said Berryman acted poorly and showed ‘blatant disregard’ for the lives he put at risk.
‘You did nothing to render assistance but instead evade apprehension,’ he said.
Kerry Bodney (pictured left) with two-year-old son Robert, who was murdered by her former partner in 2012
Before her death, Ms Bodney’s life had already been marred by tragedy.
Her two-year-old son Robert Bodney was murdered by her former partner Wayne Murray Narkle in 2012.
Narkle, who was a heroin addict, said he ‘snapped’ and hit and shook the two-year-old Robert because he would not stop crying.
The infant suffered a catastrophic head injury and fractures to both arms.
Ms Bodney found Robert pale and not breathing after ducking out to get some cigarettes.
Narkle pleaded guilty to killing Robert and was jailed for a minimum of 15 years.
In Tuesday’s sentencing, Justice Fiannaca said Berryman had showed a reckless disregard for his passenger’s lives as he displayed dangerous driving of the most egregious kind.
‘It is criminal negligence of the highest order. You ignored their screams to stop. They were in obvious fear for their lives — and you ignored them,’ Justice Fiannaca said.
However, Justice Fiannaca accepted Berryman held genuine remorse for his actions and received a 20 per cent discount due to an early plea.
Berryman will be eligible for parole after serving nine years in prison, making his earliest release date April 2032.
He will be disqualified from getting behind the wheel for a further 10 years.
Kerry Bodney was thrown 15 metres from the car and suffered catastrophic injuries
Kerry Bodney visited her son Robert’s grave site regularly before she was killed
Ms Bodney’s brother Craig also gave evidence in court describing his sister as friendly, loving and outgoing.
Outside court Craig said his sister never really recovered from the loss of her boy.
‘This has broken my whole family. My mother, she was already sick, and Kerry lost everything after her son,’ he told the West Australian.
‘He ran away like a coward. He’s not a man, what’s called a gutless of a person, that the human being, in my opinion.
‘Closure would be that he doesn’t get out and have a life again.’
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