Family of Paige Prentice who died after a car driven by Matthew Emerson rolled on Long Beach say they are ‘utterly broken’

The death of a young girl in a crash on a beach in the South East has left her family devastated but they have a clear message for the man who killed her.

Left “utterly broken” by the death of her twin sister, a young woman has labelled the driver who killed her as “selfish” and “reckless” while staring him down in court.

Paige Prentice, 22, died in the Flinders Medical Centre on December 26, 2019, four days after suffering critical injuries in a crash at Long Beach, near Kingston SE.

Her boyfriend, Matthew Emerson, 31, was “snaking” the vehicle up the beach at 70km/h when the tires on one side dug into the sand and the car rolled.

Neither Emerson nor Ms Prentice, both from Portland, Victoria, were wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash.

Emerson was charged and pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving.

On Thursday, Emerson appeared in the District Court before Judge Ian Press for sentencing submissions.

Ms Prentice’s twin sister Madison told the court words were not enough to describe her sister “because her spirit is so much more than I can write”.

“Paige was my little sister, my identical twin, for nine special months we grew close together, that is where out life long bond begun,” she said.

“Individuals but always at each other’s side. I feel utterly broken having lost my sister, my best friend, a huge piece of my soul at age 22.”

Paige Prentice died when a car she was in flipped on a beach in the South East.

Matthew Emerson was driving the car when it crashed, killing his girlfriend Paige in December 2019.

Madison Prentice stared at a sobbing Emerson as she read the final words of her statement.

“Because of you I will never celebrate another birthday with my sister,” she said.

“Because of you we won’t be travelling to Egypt and all over Europe like we had planned hundreds of times.

“When you took her life, you took my essence too. You are selfish and you are reckless and that is all I have to say to you.”

Ms Prentice’s father, Graham, said their family would never be the same again.

“This has been an enormous interruption in the natural order of our family,” he said.

“A parent should never have to bury their child. I believe in my heart that I was destined to have two lives: one before and one after the crash.

“People say that time heals all wounds, but think that’s bulls***. Time just helps you move forward, moving slowly forward though grief. How can you recover from such a loss?”

However, Mr Prentice said his youngest daughter would have wanted Emerson to get his life back on track.

“It was a reckless act, your driving on the beach that day, with such enormous ramifications,” he said.

“Whatever happens here today I think that Paige would have wanted you to get on with your life and to hold it together, but most of all to never forget Paige Prentice.”

Paige Prentice died when the car being driven by her boyfriend flipped on a beach in 2019.

Mr Prentice said only days before the crash he had discussed organ donation with Ms Prentice.

“She had picked up a pamphlet from the doctors and had already spoken to her mother about it,” he said.

“It was uncanny, she has now helped five people with her organ donations.”

Emerson read an apology to the court saying he was sorry for the anguish he had caused Ms Prentice’s family.

Thi Thy Nguyen, prosecuting, said Emerson’s actions could be described as “mild hooning” as he slalomed down the beach for at least 300m.

Matthew Emerson who killed his girlfriend Paige Prentice in a crash at Kingston SE in December 2019.

Ben Armstrong, for Emerson, described the crash as a result of “low-level skylarking” and asked Judge Press to suspend any sentence that would be imposed.

Judge Press said Emerson’s age at the time of the crash was an important factor.

“I have no particular issues with accepting that he is remorseful,” he said.

“There are certainly some factors in his life which excite sympathy. But none of them explain what happened on that day.

“He was 29 on that day, not an immature driver who just got a licence with some of the stupidity sometimes associated with that.”

Emerson will be sentenced next month.