Strathalbyn woman Ashlee Jade Potter receives suspended sentence after car accident that killed animal rescuer Tamara Moss
“What do you need to do to end up in jail?” The family of animal rescuer Tamara Moss wants the law overhauled after the driver who fatally struck her was spared prison.
Adelaide Hills
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Tamara “Tammy” Moss was the kindest person you could meet. A devoted daughter, partner and friend who dedicated her life to saving animals in need.
But Ms Moss’s life was tragically cut short on February 25, 2020, when she was thrown from her bike by a car on Nine Mile Rd while on her morning commute to Strathalbyn.
Paramedics worked frantically to stabilise the 44-year-old at the scene but she died in hospital, succumbing to serious injuries.
Her death was described as having had the “effect of a tsunami” by Tamara’s mother Rose Moss, who delivered a powerful victim impact statement at the sentencing of the car’s driver, Ashlee Jade Potter.
Potter, 30, of Strathalbyn, appeared on Friday in Mount Barker Magistrates Court, where she pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of driving without due care.
The mother of one received a suspended jail term after entering into a $500, three-year good behaviour bond. She was also issued with a 12-month loss of licence.
During sentencing submissions, lawyers for Potter said their client came from a good family and had no prior convictions.
They said Potter was remorseful and could not explain why she failed to see the cyclist, who had her rear lights on, and had stopped to render assistance and call police after the crash.
Potter did not extend an apology to Ms Moss’s parents and partner Barry Stringer, who also attended the sentencing.
In sentencing, Magistrate Teresa Marie Anderson said the case was a difficult one and she needed to consider both the circumstances of the collision and the effects it had on others.
She said considering the seriousness of the offence, a 15-week imprisonment was the “only appropriate disposition”.
This, she said, would be reduced by three weeks due to the guilty plea discount and suspended to allow Potter to continue looking after her daughter.
While the reduced sentencing meant Potter would avoid a prison cell, Ms Anderson cautioned the careless driver.
“Unfortunately it is far too often that courts are called upon to sentence people who have not had bad driving histories, who have failed to see a vehicle or a bike on the road when it was there to be seen,” Ms Anderson said.
“The term of imprisonment that I have imposed will be suspended upon entering a good behaviour bond for a period of three years.
“I am making the good behaviour bond three years because that means that the term of imprisonment will be hanging over your head for a reasonably long time.”
Outside court, Ms Moss’s father, Robert Moss, expressed his disbelief after the sentencing.
“I’m in shock and shows that it really needs the politicians to sit down and come up with something worthwhile,” he said.
“The thought that you can run someone down ... that’s criminal to me. What do you need to do to end up in jail?”
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