Nadia Khan jailed for more than two years for crash that killed toddler son at Mount Eba

A mother who was smoking cannabis before she crashed and rolled her car up to 20 times, killing her unrestrained toddler in the back seat, has been jailed.

Nadia Khan outside the District Court last year. Picture: Sean Fewster.

A mother has wept in court as she was sentenced to more than two years in prison for a crash in the state’s Far North that killed her 18-month-old son.

Nadia Khan, 30, tested positive to cannabis after the crash on the Stuart Highway in Mount Eba on January 21, 2018.

In the District Court on Tuesday, Khan wept quietly as she was sentenced to two years, one month and 17 days in prison with a non-parole period of one year, eight months and three days.

She had pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated causing death by dangerous driving.

Judge Paul Slattery said the crash was “very serious” and refused to allow Khan to serve her prison sentence on home detention in the community.

Khan had been driving all night from Adelaide’s southern suburbs heading to Mimili in the APY lands, a 1200km journey, when she lost control of her four-wheel-drive on a straight stretch of road.

In the back of the car was Khan’s 18-month-old son.

Police investigators found that her son had not been properly strapped into the car seat, which was itself not correctly installed.

A truck driver told police that he had been overtaken by Khan who was driving “well in excess of 110km/h” shortly before the crash.

Major crash investigators analysing the scene concluded that Khan had crossed to the wrong side of the road and on to the gravel shoulder on the opposite side of the road.

The car started to slide and Khan overcorrected, sending the car hurtling back across the road and rolling off into the scrub.

The car rolled up to 20 times, damaging every panel and breaking every window.

Other drivers arrived at the scene of the crash to find Khan screaming in the road and asking for help finding her son.

The body of the 18-month-old was found 20 metres from the wreck of the car.

He was unresponsive and died at the scene despite motorists performing CPR.

Khan tested positive to cannabis and a smoking implement was found in her bag.

She told investigators that she had smoked cannabis before leaving from Adelaide but a medical expert said it was more likely to have been smoked only a few hours before the crash.

There was nothing mechanically wrong with the car.

“There is no doubt that the death of your son has had a significant impact on you,” Judge Slattery said.

“But your driving on that day was dangerous, particularly so as your infant son was in a car seat which was not appropriately attached to the car.”