A pregnant charity worker has been sentenced to at least 18 months jail for the horror crash which claimed the life of her friend last year.
Rebecca Lee Greatley, 25, was high on cannabis when she drove through a stop sign and into the path of a semi-trailer in Port Pirie, Adelaide, last May.
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, 25, has been jailed for a horrific crash which killed her British backpacker friend Jamie Dumbleton, 26, (pictured together) last May
Ms Greatley, 25, was high on cannabis when she drove through a stop sign and into the path of a semi-trailer in Port Pirie, Adelaide, killing her Mr Dumbleton
Ms Greatley, a ‘nightly user’ of cannabis, had been driving erratically before the crash
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.
District Court Judge Stephen McEwen jailed the charity worker for 22 months, three weeks and three days on Tuesday, Adelaide Now reports.
Ms Greatley was said to have wailed and sobbed uncontrollably upon learning of her sentence in court.
Mr Dumbleton, a right-hand rear-sear 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.
Ms Greatley was said to have wailed and sobbed uncontrollably upon learning of her sentence in court
Mr Dumbleton, a right-hand rear-sear 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.
‘Whatever sentence I impose from the defendant’s perspective (will) seem harsh,’ he said.
‘The consequences (are that) she did not intend to cause this collision — obviously it was an accident.’
Ms Greatley, who was a ‘nightly user’ of cannabis, was also banned from driving for 10 years.