A grief-struck Narre Warren woman has been spared mandatory jail after her dangerous driving caused the death of her sister.
Mikayla Wells, now 22, had changed lanes without indicating as she sought to turn left into Caribbean Gardens market off Stud Road, Rowville on a Sunday morning on 17 February 2019.
Wells was not speeding beyond the 80km/h limit at the time on the busy road. But unknown to her, two males were driving their cars in the left bus lane.
The males, both friends of each other and on the way to the market, had been earlier observed speeding and making dangerous manoeuvres.
As Wells’s Commodore crossed into the bus lane, she didn’t see the second of the males’ cars.
The rear passenger side of her car struck the door and front quarter panel of the second car.
Wells lost control and ploughed into a power pole, which sheared her sedan in two.
Her younger and “vibrant” sister Nikita, 17, who sat in the back of Wells’ car, “bore the brunt” of the collision, sentencing County Court of Victoria judge Gerard Mullaly said on 3 March.
Despite a “deeply distressed” Wells’s CPR attempts, Nikita died at the scene.
Judge Mullaly said Wells had cleared a “high hurdle” to escape the otherwise mandatory jail term.
This was due to Wells’s “impaired mental functioning”.
If she was jailed, she faced a substantially greater than the ordinary burden and an increased risk of deteriorating “to the point of suicide”, Judge Mullaly said.
Prosecutors did not dispute that finding, the judge noted.
“Prison would simply be too much for you in those circumstances,” the judge said.
Wells was “deeply traumatised” and “grief-stricken” as a result of causing her sister’s death. What added to this was that “you and your younger sister were so close”.
Nikita’s life was “invaluable”. She was “young, vibrant and certainly with many of her best years in front of her”, Judge Mullaly noted.
Before the crash, Wells was already struggling with mental health difficulties.
She is being counselled for her post-traumatic stress and depressive disorder, reporting suicidal ideation, panic attacks and flashbacks since the crash.
Wells’s driving was “otherwise lawful” but for the way she changed lanes. Her culpability was at the lower end of the inherently serious offence.
However the judge noted that changing lanes when not safe on a major road can “set off a chain of catastrophe … leading to life-long grief”.
He noted Wells was a young, first offender. She pleaded guilty at an early stage, was remorseful and had “very good” prospects of not reoffending.
She was studying with the aim of working as a nurse. Her motivation was to give back to the community as a result of her loss.
“This was one mistake and it ought not define who you are and what you can contribute in the future.”
However, noting the need for deterrence and denunciation, Judge Mullaly ordered a conviction on Wells’s record.
Wells was also placed on a two-year community corrections order. She must perform 200 hours of unpaid work.
She was disqualified from driving for the minimum 18 months.
