Kenisha Leighmay Illin sentenced for double fatal crash that killed Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott

A Townsville woman has been sentenced for a horrifying double-fatal crash that claimed the lives of two inseparable friends, Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott.

A Townsville woman has been sentenced to four years jail for a horrifying double-fatal crash that claimed the lives of two inseparable friends almost three years ago.

Heatley woman Kenisha Leighmay Illin, 23, appeared in Townsville District Court charged with a single count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death.

Her sentencing comes almost three years on from the horrific crash which killed Ingham women Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott on September 24, 2019.

Kenisha Leighmay Illin (right) is being sentenced for the fatal crash which killed Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott in Bambaroo in 2019.

The court heard Illin had been driving a white Ford Mondeo towing a large box trailer on the Bruce Hwy at Bambaroo when her vehicle crossed the centre line and collided with Ms Reardon’s Toyota Corolla, which had been travelling north.

Judy Reardon’s eldest daughter Hollie Roveglia said it made her “sick to the stomach” to think of the gruesome way her mother was killed as she read out her victim impact statement in court.

Speaking through tears, she spoke of the trauma she had to relive every time she visited her dad in Ingham and was forced to drive by the crash site where her mum died.

She said the two best friends visited her in Townsville after a medical appointment and were on their way home to Ingham at the time of the horrific crash.

“My heart is shattered,” she said.

“I think about the car crash every day, some day every hour. Thinking of mum and Barb dead on the side of the road.”

Judy’s partner Terry Reardon said the shocking loss of his wife of 39 years had been multiplied by the loss of her best friend and neighbour Barbara Scott.

“I am lost,” he said.

“I was robbed of being able to say goodbye to my one true love.

“I now live alone in the house I built with my wife, the house we were supposed to grow old together in. Nothing can fill that empty space.”

The family members of double fatal victims Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott. From left Judy’s daughters Hollie Roveglia and Penny Reardon with their father Terry Reardon. Also with them is Barb’s partner Gavin Vercoe (far right). Picture: Shae Beplate.

In his victim impact statement, Barbara Scott’s partner of 38 years, Gavin Vercoe, said he moved to North Queensland with his “soulmate” 13 years ago from New Zealand in the hopes of growing old together here.

“The heartbreak is unbearable at times – it is life-shattering,” he said.

The court heard the two women — who were both cancer survivors — worked as volunteers with an Ingham cancer charity called Audrey’s Angels of Hope.

Illin’s lawyer Darin Honchin told the court his client had a “sad and unfortunate history” where she suffered physically and mentally abused from a young age, which resulted in her being diagnosed with a complex post-traumatic stress disorder.

He described Illin as a person who was “easily influenced” and agreed to switch seats with her stepfather and drive the car despite her inexperience.

“She does feel sorrow for the death of the persons,” he said.

Judge Gregory Lynham sentenced Illin to four years imprisonment suspended after 21 months on the condition she doesn’t commit another offence punishable by imprisonment for a period of five years.

She was also disqualified from driving for three years.

He noted she had a limited criminal history and that speed was not a feature of her offending.

He declared the 128 days she spent in pre-sentence custody as time served.

“You’ve left a hole that will never be filled in the lives of many people,” he said.

“No sentence that I can impose can ever bring them back.”

Originally published as Kenisha Leighmay Illin sentenced for double fatal crash that killed Judy Reardon and Barbara Scott