David Penberthy: Don’t allow meth-addled hit-run driver to dodge jail

A DRUGGED driver who hit and killed a cyclist, robbing three children of their mother, should not be dealt with lightly, writes David Penberthy.

Samantha Farrer leaves court, while awaiting sentencing for the death of nurse Kathleen Heraghty.

• Former siege gunman Rodney Clavell’s girlfriend guilty
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SAMANTHA Magdaleine Farrer robbed three children of their mother. She did so through a criminal act, a shocking instance of drug-affected dangerous driving.

She didn’t even pull over and stop after she had the accident. She thought she’d hit a fruit stand, or something. Whatever. She just kept on driving. She’d been awake for 24 hours. Meth does that to a person.

Samantha Magdaleine Farrer just drove away, leaving her mortally wounded victim lying in the culvert on the side of the road.

Kathleen Heraghty had three young kids and was married to Brian Peat, an obstetrician at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Kathleen worked as a midwife, bringing kids into the world.

A decent, loving, hardworking family. Kathleen was 48. She was a keen cyclist and was training for a triathlon when she was knocked off her bike by Farrer near Victor Harbor in December 2013.

As Farrer drove off, passers-by stopped and paramedics came and worked desperately to save Kathleen. There was nothing they could do.

It takes a special kind of audacity for someone who has robbed three children of their mum to turn around and argue that their own status as a mother should shield them from the legitimate and full force of the law.

This is precisely what Samantha Farrer is doing, saying the fact that she has a 10-month-old son means she should not endure a custodial sentence, despite the fact that she was found guilty of her crimes in the District Court this week.

For what remains of the Heraghty family, it is hard to imagine a more affronting line of argument, given the circumstances of Farrer’s now-proven wrongdoing.

Yet it is the argument forwarded by Farrer’s lawyer, Gilbert Aitken, who said his client’s son had been born after the fatal crash and would suffer hardship were his mother jailed.

“He has never been separated from his mother, and he doesn’t have any carer other than his mother,” he told the District Court on Tuesday.

“This is a relevant sentencing question, and something I will be concentrating on in terms of my submissions — the effects of imprisonment upon a child.”

In one sense, this is a live and broader question for South Australia as a society. We are the only mainland state without a purpose-built jail to house female prisoners with babies and children. Perhaps it is time that the issue is addressed, especially as there have been other like cases in recent weeks.

Undeniably, Farrer’s son will suffer in the event that his mother is jailed. He will be taken away from his mum at an age when he has become very cognisant of the fact that she is the absolute centre of his life.

It is a harsh scenario. But there is only one person who should feel any guilt over that fact. Her name is Samantha Magdaleine Farrer.

Responsibility for this miserable state of affairs rests wholly and solely with her.

A few harsh points deserve to be made. Farrer is apparently an ex-girlfriend of the former gunman Rodney Clavell, who took his own life while holed up in a King William St brothel during that infamous siege in June 2014.

The 10-month-old boy is not Clavell’s, obviously, but born to another man, with whom Farrer seemingly made the somewhat baffling decision to start a family, even though she knew she had the prospect of jail hanging over her head.

This suggests a fairly negligent attitude to child-rearing in my view. Hardly what you call giving the baby the best possible start in life.

It also raises a more devious scenario where the baby may have in fact been conceived, or come with the added bonus, of being a bargaining chip to avoid jail time.

It is a pretty sad day for society if you can actually kill someone through your own selfishness and lawlessness, rob three children of a parent and a husband of his wife, and then turn around and say that no one is allowed to punish you properly because you’re trying to bring up your own kid.

It really is the ultimate insult to a family that has suffered more than anyone should have to bear.

Time will tell how the court sees it but a meth-addled hit-run driver who tries to weasel her way out of culpability for her actions is hardly a candidate for mother of the year.