“No sentence will be adequate”: Judge delivers ruling on killer teen
The Queensland teenager who was drunk and high on cannabis when his stolen Landcruiser ploughed into expectant couple Kate Leadbetter and Matthew Field has finally learnt his fate before a judge.
The learner driver crashed the stolen four-wheel drive, killing the engaged couple and their unborn child, changing their devastated families' lives forever.
A tragedy was "almost inevitable" when the drug-fuelled teen began driving recklessly and dangerously in the stolen Landcruiser, a court has heard. It took only 20 minutes before the teen ploughed into Field and partner Leadbetter.
The driver, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time, will be released from custody six years to the day after the horror collision.
"One episode of offending ... resulted about 20 minutes later in the heart-rending death of an innocent young couple," Justice Martin Burns said to the teen during sentencing on Wednesday.
"[The teen] ... drove ... so dangerously over a sustained period ... without any regard for the safety of anyone ... that something like the terrible tragedy which unfolded must be seen to be an almost inevitable consequence."
The teen ran a red light at Alexandra Hills, colliding with a truck before rolling and hitting the couple.
Mr Field, 37 and Ms Leadbetter, 31, were killed instantly, suffering "catastrophic injuries".
The teen fled with minor injuries, stealing keys from a nearby house before being caught by a resident before police arrived.
He later appeared shocked he was responsible for the couple's deaths when interviewed by detectives.
He had been drinking and using cannabis from about 10 am the day of the fatality and had a blood alcohol content of between 0.151 and 0.192% two hours after the crash.
Earlier, he'd gone with a friend to Cleveland to get more cannabis and was found with almost $6000 when arrested.
Justice Burns said taking into account the teen's protracted period of extremely dangerous driving that culminated in a grossly negligent final act, he regarded the manslaughter offences as "particularly heinous".
But the teenager had to be sentenced as a child, with the "grave nature of offending" balanced by his youth. The given sentence was also based on the teenager not intending to kill or do grievous bodily harm.
The teen's upbringing was "marked by significant deprivation and neglect" with his mother being sent for psychiatric treatment and his father to jail, Justice Burns said.
The teenager - who was first charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter and a raft of other charges - stood stony-faced as he was sentenced.
Justice Burns sentenced the teen to 10 years in detention, requiring him to serve 60% of that sentence. He will be released on Australia Day 2027, at the age of 23.
However, Justice Burns added: "No sentence will be adequate ... [and] can't do justice to the suffering you have caused."
Image: ABC