Former wife of ex-Parramatta Eels boss Lisa Mottram jailed over crash
The estranged wife of former Parramatta Eels boss Denis Fitzgerald has been jailed for four years after running over a young family when she was drunk and texting behind the wheel.
NSW
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The estranged wife of former Parramatta Eels boss Denis Fitzgerald has been jailed for four years after running over a young family when she was drunk and texting behind the wheel.
Lisa Mottram arrived at Parramatta District Court with family members but left alone to prison on Friday after pleading guilty to multiple charges including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm over the gruesome collision on Hezlett Rd in North Kellyville on September 18, 2018.
The court was told the intoxicated 51-year-old walked into a pole at The Fiddler in Rouse Hill before she got into her white SUV to meet her lover in South Windsor later that night when she ploughed into the family of tourists, who had been visiting friends in the area and were due to return to Hong Kong the next day.
A four-year-old girl was left with life-threatening head injuries and her mother, father and aunt were also seriously injured, leaving the four “unconscious and motionless” on the roadside.
When the girl was discharged from hospital she was not responsive to voice.
Phone records revealed Mottram was using her mobile to send text messages at the time of the collision and investigators later determined she had swerved her car off the road twice before hitting the family about 9.40pm.
In sentencing, Judge Justin Smith blasted Mottram for not pulling over after she started to swerve her car and for ignoring advice from a friend, who drove had driven her home from The Fiddler and warned her not to drive.
“Drinking excessively is not a crime – it was the decision to drive while intoxicated, text while driving and continue to do so even after swerving that lie at the heart of her culpability of these offences,” he said.
“People with good records can take for granted their own ability to drive safely … in light of the tragedy of these offences, I find the offender is unlikely to have such confidence again.”
After the crash Mottram was arrested and blew 0.113 – more than two times the legal blood alcohol limit.
Judge Smith said no other option but a full time custodial sentence was necessary and sentenced her to four years jail with a non parole period of two years. She will be first eligible for parole on November 28, 2021.
“She was put on notice by her friend to drive safely,” he said.
"While a collision occurred shortly after (she left home) … she was in fact intending to travel 29 minutes to South Windsor (which would have placed) a number of people at risk.”
Mottram, who had been separated from Mr Fitzgerald for 18 months before the collision, wept in the dock and told her family "I love you so much - I'm so sorry".
"We know you're sorry," her elderly father said before she was led away into the cells.
Originally published as Former wife of ex-Parramatta Eels boss Lisa Mottram jailed over crash
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