Luigi Gligora sentenced over high-speed crash that almost killed The Advertiser journalist Ben Hyde

The drugged, dangerous, high-speed and psychotic driver who nearly killed a top journalist in a “mind-boggling” crash has been sentenced.

Dangerous, drug-affected and psychotic driver Luigi Gligora deserves no mercy for nearly killing a top journalist in a fiery crash and must spend at least two years behind bars, a judge says.

On Monday, Advertiser journalist and former deputy editor Ben Hyde wept and embraced his wife as Gligora was taken into the cells to begin his prison term.

The long-awaited sentencing almost didn’t happen, with Craig Caldicott, for Gligora, asking it be postponed so his client could propose a different address for a home detention sentence.

He said the first address proposed – that of his client’s mother – had been deemed unsuitable because it was a Housing Trust property.

Judge Nicholas Alexandrides, however, said an alternate address would not be needed “for reasons that will become apparent”.

Dangerous driver Luigi Gligora. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

Ben Hyde with wife Tania outside the Adelaide District Court on Monday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

He jailed Gligora for four years, with a two-year non-parole period, and disqualified his licence for 12 years starting from the day he is released from custody.

“Your driving was deliberate and wilful – accordingly, your conduct carries a large degree of moral blameworthiness,” he said.

“The engine of your car was at 99 per cent of full throttle for the five seconds before the crash and your speed was 170km/h, which is simply mind-boggling.

“This is an extremely serious act of driving … there could be more serious examples (in legal history), but it is difficult to imagine.”

Outside court, Mr Hyde said he hoped the sentence would serve as a good precedent and a step in the right direction for improving the standards of all road users.

“I feel, and the people around me feel, (the sentence) was appropriate,” he said.

“As a society and as a community, it’s quite challenging to stomach what can be deemed ‘lenient’ penalties for that kind of behaviour and consequences.

“What the courts did today can’t change what happened to me but what it can do is send a message to the community about the behaviour we can’t stand for.

“170km/h on West Terrace, (which is) 110km/h over the posted speed limit, that’s wildly reckless behaviour.

“I just hope that anyone who’s out there who might think it’s okay to act like that will know that, if they’re going to behave like that, they can look forward to two years behind bars.”

The wreckage of Mr Hyde’s car following the crash. Picture: 7NEWS

Gligora, 47, of Northfield, pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of causing serious harm by dangerous driving over the crash on West Tce on October 4, 2021.

With prescription medication and cannabis in his system, he drove away from an SA Police traffic stop and reached speeds in excess of 170km/h.

He then collided with Mr Hyde, who was headed home from work – it was only through the actions of good Samaritans that the journalist survived the impact.

Earlier this month, counsel for Gligora – who initially flagged a mental health defence – said they could not explain his actions, suggesting they arose from psychosis.

Mr Hyde and his family outlined the ordeal they had suffered, and all they had lost, as a result of the crash, with his son Oliver poignantly dubbing Gligora “a bad man”.

In sentencing on Monday, Judge Alexandrides said that, in the hours prior to the crash, Gligora had called his son and said he intended to take his own life.

The police pursuing Gligora at the moment of impact, he said, were trying to help him but he was affected by self-induced psychosis from overdosing on a prescription weight loss drug.

The effects of that drug in such a high quantity, he said, was “virtually indistinguishable” from those methylamphetamine.

However he said neither that, nor the personal and mental health issues that led to Gligora’s overdose, had a “significant causal connection” to his criminal actions.

Judge Alexandrides paid tribute to Mr Hyde’s resiliency, to the love of his family, and to the passer-bys who pulled him – while on fire – from the wreck of his car.

“It’s very fortunate that Mr Hyde was not killed or more seriously harmed, and that no other person was harmed, because of your driving,” he said.

“I accept your apology and expressions of remorse are sincere, but they also reflect an externalisation of responsibility with a heightened perception of your own misfortune.”

He said neither a suspended nor home detention sentence would have been appropriate, even had Gligora found a suitable address at which to reside.

Gligora was affected by self-induced and drug-induced psychosis at the time which, the judge said, afforded him no leniency in sentencing. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette

Outside court, Mr Hyde – who has no memory of the crash – said it was “harrowing” to listen to the sentencing remarks, but he was grateful for Judge Alexandrides’ thoroughness.

“This has been more than 2 ½ years now … the whole process from just the criminal court perspective has been naturally very, very taxing,” he said.

“It’s been a pretty significant burden not just for myself but for all my loved ones and the people around me.

“It’s been one of many elements we’ve had to grapple with, and to know that’s reached a conclusion is a significant relief.”

He said his family’s focus was now on their “new normal”.

“To trot out one of my new favourite quotes, ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ … we try not to compare things too much to what they were pre-accident,” he said.

“We just try to enjoy every day ahead of us now that we have because, in all honesty, there was a time where there probably wasn’t a tomorrow for me.”