Lauren Jean Willgoose stands trial accused of causing the death of neuropsychologist Tony Walsh on Goodwood Rd
A woman rang criminal law firms the morning after killing a top Adelaide neuropsychologist in an alleged fatal hit-run crash on Goodwood Rd, a court has heard.
Police & Courts
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A woman who drank more than a litre of red wine “drove through” a pedestrian, flinging him into the air and left him for dead – before calling local criminal law firms early the next morning, a court has heard.
Adelaide lawyer Lauren Jean Willgoose, 31, is standing trial in the District Court after pleading not guilty to causing the death of neuropsychologist Anthony ‘Tony’ Walsh, by dangerous driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident on June 30, 2021.
Opening the trial on Tuesday, prosecutor Michael Foundas said Ms Willgoose “simply drove straight through Mr Walsh, tossing him up into the air and into the side of her vehicle … before coming crashing down on the bitumen road”.
He said that impact had caused “a loud significant bang” that was “so loud that it drew the attention of a number of people who were in this vicinity” and “must have been apparent to Ms Willgoose”.
“On the prosecution case, given the loud bang that occurred, given the damage to her vehicle and given the fact that Mr Walsh would have been thrown up and to the side of her vehicle – Ms Willgoose must have been aware that she had been involved in a collision,” he said.
But, he said she “took no action” to avoid the collision or stop and render assistance, instead he said she drove about 3km to her Cumberland Park home.
“She just kept on driving, effectively leaving Mr Walsh for dead,” he said.
Mr Foundas said Ms Willgoose was driving a white Kia Sportage with lights on when she struck Mr Walsh on a “straight, flat, well-lit” stretch of Goodwood Rd, near the Capri Theatre. He said nothing had been obscuring her vision at the time, and while it had been raining earlier it was not raining at the time of the crash.
Ms Foundas said Ms Willgoose was captured on CCTV cameras at the Goodwood Park Hotel drinking four 250ml glasses of pinot noir and a smaller 150ml glass of the same wine with a male friend.
He said an expert would tell the court a countback of her blood-alcohol content, conducted after she handed herself into police at her lawyer’s office the following morning, determined her level at the time of the crash would have been 0.23 – “significantly over the legal limit”.
“Her ability to drive would have been markedly impaired,” he said.
Mr Foundas said phone records indicated Ms Willgoose had made numerous calls in the hours that followed the crash, and between 5.30am and 6.30am, called local law firms and lawyers known to practice criminal law. He said those calls “further reveal” Ms Willgoose knew she had been involved in a hit-run.
He said a crash reconstruction expert would tell the court Ms Willgoose was travelling about 45km/h in the 50km/h zone and “should have, at an absolute minimum, been able to see Mr Walsh in the road in front of her about 27.5m from the point of collision”.
He said that distance should have been “sufficient” for there to have been “at least some attempt at braking” or taking evasive action.
He said Mr Walsh had been at dinner with his designated-driver wife and friends prior to the crash and had also been drinking – he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.145 – but his intoxication was “no defence” for Ms Willgoose’s dangerous driving.
He was crossing the road – dressed in a red jacket, blue jeans and a bright yellow hat – to head back to his wife’s car at the time of the crash.
Mr Walsh suffered “significant head injuries” including skull fractures and bleeding on the brain in the crash and was resuscitated at the scene by one of the friends he had been at dinner with, who was a GP.
But Mr Foundas said Mr Walsh never regained consciousness and was kept alive by machines until he died on July 9, 2021.
Paul Rice KC, for Ms Willgoose, said issues of contention for the trial would include the weather, road conditions and visibility at the time of the crash.
The court heard he intended to call witnesses including a crash reconstruction expert and an expert in blood-alcohol levels.
The trial, before Judge Nick Alexandrides in the absence of a jury, continues.
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