Lyle Morrison and boy, 16, sentenced for dangerous driving and causing death of Lucy Paveley in August 2017
WHEN Lyle Morrison ran a red light during a high-speed street race through suburban Adelaide, his stolen car became a “giant, speeding, deadly bullet” that claimed the life of beloved mother Lucy Paveley. Today, he and a teenage boy were jailed for the crime.
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WHEN Lyle Morrison ran a red light during a high-speed street race through suburban Adelaide, his stolen car became a “giant, speeding, deadly bullet” that claimed the life of beloved mother Lucy Paveley.
“The community feels outrage at this type of conduct and rightly so — cars can be deadly weapons,” District Court Judge Liesl Chapman said during sentencing on Friday.
“Understandably, there will be members of the community who would like the court to lock you both up and throw away the key.
“Sentencing for this type of offending by the court does not, and never could, measure the value of human life.”
She sentenced Morrison, 19, to nine years and six months in jail with a non-parole period of seven years and seven months for dangerous driving, causing the death of Ms Paveley.
Judge Chapman also sentenced a 16-year-old boy, who cannot be named, to seven years and six months’ jail with a non-parole period of five years for aiding and abetting Morrison’s dangerous driving.
“I’ve seen the CCTV footage — it’s horrendous. You car was like a giant, speeding, deadly bullet,” she said.
“The dangerous driving to escape police pursuit was reprehensible.
“You ran a red light at excessively high speed into a major intersection after a prolonged period of high-speed driving.
“It was nothing less than shocking, shameful and disgraceful. Despite your high speed, you had time to stop when that light turned red. Instead, you bulldozed your way into the intersection.”
The duo admitted that their driving caused the death of Mrs Paveley, a nurse and mother of two, at Parafield on August 20 last year.
Morrison, his co-accused and other youths went on a crime spree that started with property offences in Grange, before a street race between two stolen cars — one driven by Morrison and the other by the boy — and ended with the tragic death of Ms Paveley about 6.30am.
The street race started in the western suburbs and continued through Medindie, College Park and Maylands before heading north to Parafield, reaching speeds of 146km/h.
Morrison was travelling at up to 134km/h at the point of impact with Ms Paveley. He then fled the scene.
“There can be no suggestion that you intended to kill anyone on that morning,” Judge Chapman said.
“However your prolonged, persistent and deliberate bad driving, which is at the heart of these offences, means that you were behaving recklessly with regard to the safety of others.”
Judge Chapman said both Morrison and the boy had disadvantaged backgrounds marred by substance abuse.
She banned them both from driving for 20 years.
Last month, the court was told Ms Paveley was studying how to best care for grieving, traumatised families just hours before she was killed.
It was also revealed that expert evidence proves Morrison had “ample time” to stop his stolen car at a red light and avoid the fatal impact, even at great speed, but chose not to.
Ms Paveley’s friend, Cindy Juel-Chapman, said the Paveley family had been devastated by the crime, as had all of their friends.
She spoke directly to Morrison, who held his head in his hands.
“Lucy made everyone feel they were important, like they were her closest friend, and that showed even in her chosen profession,” she said.
“She was only a few months away from finishing her diploma and get back some time with her family.
“Do you know what was sitting on her desk when she died? An assignment on caring for grieving families.
“She was studying this, only to die the next day... just think about that for a moment.”
Prosecutor Tali Costi noted Morrison was legally entitled to up to 40 per cent off his jail term due to his early guilty plea.
But she said granting him such leniency would result in a sentence “disproportionate to the seriousness of his offending” and do nothing to deter him.
She said he had offended extensively before, and had posted photos to Facebook of himself smiling just hours after the fatal crash.
“The casual disregard for the loss of Mrs Paveley’s life casts a long shadow over this matter,” she said.
“They are young men who have done a grave and terrible thing.”
Graham Lange, for Morrison, urged the court not to downplay his client’s remorse.
He asked it to be aware of cultural issues when considering how Morrison had expressed that remorse and reminded it of his early guilty plea.
“There is no way to downplay, and no one has ever sought to excuse, this terrible event and terrible crime,” he said.
“Morrison says he was making terrible decisions at that time, but could not put the brakes on that.”
Judge Chapman allowed a discount of 25 per cent for their guilty pleas, saying the discount did not make the sentences disproportionate to the seriousness of the offending.