No apologies from fatal crash driver Janine Lusher as she comes face-to-face with Roland Higgins children

Confronted in court by the grieving children of the retired police officer she killed, this inattentive driver said she was “deeply saddened” but did not apologise.

Roland “Rollie” Higgins was a beloved father, devoted husband and respected, retired SA Police officer who aided in the Beaumont children, Kirste Gordon and Truro murders searches.

When he was killed in a head-on crash with inattentive driver Janine Lusher, he left behind a family struggling to cope and a wife whose dementia prevented her understanding her loss.

On Wednesday, Mr Higgins’ daughter, Carolyne Carey, told the Adelaide Magistrates Court her father insisted, to his dying breath, he was not responsible for the crash.

She said the family’s pain had been made all the worse by Lusher’s failed attempt to blame him, at her trial, for his own death.

Janine Lusher outside court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Mariuz

Roland “Rollie” Higgins.

“We thought the worst would be over when Lusher was charged, and we were wrong,” she said in her victim impact statement.

“(The trial) has caused me more tears than I have ever had in my life.”

Her sister, Fiona Rossi, said she would never forget “listening to my father pleading his innocence” over the crash.

“He insisted the other car was on the wrong side of the road – your car, Lusher,” she said in her impact statement.

“It’s very difficult to sit in court and listen to him being blamed and dehumanised for something that wasn’t his fault.

“It’s become very clear to me and my whole family, Lusher, you did not and still do not have any compassion or remorse for what you did to Dad or our family.”

Lusher, 65, was found guilty at trial of causing the death of Mr Higgins, 82, by careless driving in a crash at Highbury in December 2021.

Mr Higgins – a former police prosecutor and court sheriff’s officer who had driven that road regularly for 45 years – died from his injuries six days after the head-on collision.

During her trial, Lusher tried and failed to blame Mr Higgins for his own death, suggesting he was on the wrong side of the road, but that was rejected by the court.

On Wednesday, Lusher read a statement to the court, saying the crash and its consequences were “deeply shocking to me”.

“I’m deeply saddened for the loss of Mr Higgins’ life, I would not like anyone to think otherwise,” she said.

“I have not fully recovered, mentally or physically, and I suspect I never will.

“This was not something I ever contemplated in my life.”

Counsel for Lusher said the courts had dealt with “offending a lot worse than” hers and suggested she be released on a bond with a “merciful” licence disqualification.

Prosecutors said she should receive a jail term – but conceded it could appropriately be suspended.

Magistrate Justin Wickens remanded Lusher on continuing bail for sentencing next month.