Jail term stands for repeat drink-driver
A two-and-a-half-year jail term will stand for a Sumner woman who knocked two pedestrians over a rocky bank when she crashed while drink-driving, the High Court has decided.
Sarah Jane Arrow, 45, had admitted the drink-driving causing injury but had appealed to the High Court about the length of the jail term imposed.
Defence counsel Kirsten Gray had argued that District Court Judge Stephen O’Driscoll adopted a starting point for the sentencing that was too high – double-counting one of the aggravating factors – and did not give enough weight to the mitigating factors.
She argued that the judge had added too much on for the fact that Arrow had been on a zero-alcohol licence at the time. He appeared to add six months onto the sentence, while the maximum penalty for that offence is only three months.
At the time of the offending, Arrow had been unwell and isolated, and had been using alcohol as a crutch. Her marriage had broken up and she had attempted to take her own life.
Justice Gerald Nation reserved his decision two weeks ago and released it today, dismissing the appeal.
Arrow lost control of her car on Main Road Redcliffs, on March 25, and veered off into pedestrians, knocking two of them down a 2m bank onto rocks below. One received bruises and scratches but the other, Ben Appleton, suffered extensive injuries requiring ongoing treatment and surgery.
Arrow was found to have a high breath-alcohol – 1009mcg of alcohol to a litre of breath. The legal limit is 250mcg. She was operating with a zero-alcohol licence at the time, and it was her fourth drink-driving conviction.
Justice Nation said she was entitled to some credit for personal mitigating matters including positive references provided by her employer and the contribution she made to the community through her job assisting in caring for young people with serious particular needs.
The judge had to weigh that against her previous record, her propensity to drink-drive, and the serious injury she had caused.
He said the judge’s starting point of 40 months’ imprisonment was within the appropriate range and she had received the maximum reduction of 25 percent for her guilty pleas.
“I have thus not been persuaded there was an error in the imposition of the sentence or that, in any event, a different sentence should have been imposed. The appeal is accordingly dismissed,” said Justice Nation.
Arrow had admitted charges of causing injury to the main victim when she was drink-driving, and breaching the terms of a zero-alcohol licence. At the time of her sentencing she was assessed as being a high risk of reoffending and causing harm to others.
Category: Focus
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