Kate Leadbetter and Matthew Field crash: Witness shares untold story of the tragedy that rocked Queensland

A witness to the crash that killed Kate Leadbetter and Matthew Field has revealed the frantic moments first responders considered delivering the couple’s unborn baby while he still had a beating heart.

The desperate roadside fight to save Kate Leadbetter and her unborn baby has been revealed for the first time as one of the forgotten victims of the 2021 Australia Day crash breaks her silence on the tragedy that put a spotlight on the youth crime crisis.

Natalie Merlehan was driving with her four-year-old daughter and husband in Alexandra Hills on January 26, 2021 when a drunk and high 17-year-old with a lengthy criminal history ran a red light and slammed a stolen LandCruiser into her car.

The teenager’s vehicle then ploughed into pedestrians Ms Leadbetter and partner Matthew Field as they walked their dogs – and despite her own injuries, Ms Merlehan got out of the car and immediately began to help alongside an off-duty paramedic before ambulances arrived.

Paramedics soon realised Ms Leadbetter, 31, was pregnant and called a specialist unit, but in the meantime Ms Merlehan assisted in trying to resuscitate her on the roadside, with frantic attempts also being made to save the unborn baby boy the couple had already named Miles.

Matt Field and Kate Leadbetter were killed by the teen as they walked their dogs. Photo Supplied

“There was a discussion about delivering the baby on the roadside, and if I’d be willing to assist (the paramedics) with that, because they needed help,” she said.

“I think it was us doing what we could to keep her alive long enough, or to keep her body functioning long enough to get them (specialist paramedics) there.

“But the discussion was if they don’t get here in time, are we going to do it?

“We knew that the baby still had a heartbeat at that stage. And I think it was just that decision of can we safely deliver a baby? Because they didn’t know how far along she was.”

They would later learn Ms Leadbetter was 24 weeks pregnant. Despite the desperate efforts of Ms Merlehan and others, the much-loved couple died on the side of the road, as did baby Miles.

The tragedy sparked widespread fury over the government’s inaction on youth crime as it emerged the teenager had a lengthy criminal history, including more than 100 offences, and had finished a probation order for other offending just weeks before the horror crash.

He was later sentenced to 10 years in jail for manslaughter, but will be released on Australia Day 2027 – despite the Attorney-General’s attempts to appeal for a longer sentence.

Matty Field and Kate Leadbetter were killed by an out-of-control car driven by a drunk and high teen. Photo Steve Pohlner

Ms Merlehan is now on the government’s Independent Ministerial Advisory Council (IMAC) – one of the measures announced to tackle crime in the years since the crash – as a victim representative.

She said she hopes to create change after feeling let down as a victim herself, believing she will never be able to forget the distressing scene that began when the LandCruiser started hurtling towards her family at an intersection near their home.

“I heard a really loud bang, and I looked up and I saw a car basically tumbling end-on-end towards us,” Ms Merlehan said. “And I just remember thinking to myself, this is going to hurt, I knew in that moment that I was going to get hit. I closed my eyes and turned away because I could see where it was coming, and it was going to hit our car directly, and it was going to hit the driver’s side.

Ms Merlehan said her first thought was to protect her daughter.

Natalie Merlehan was driving with her four-year-old daughter and husband in Alexandra Hills when the tragedy occurred. Picture: Liam Kidston

“She was luckily on the passenger side, in the back, and I basically positioned myself sort of in between the seats and wrapped myself around her as best I could,” she said.

Once the impact was over, Ms Merlehan got out of the car and immediately saw Ms Leadbetter on the ground.

Ms Merlehan said in the moment she had tried everything she could to help Ms Leadbetter and the baby but she didn’t realise until afterwards how injured she herself was. She was later found to have spinal damage, permanent nerve damage, a post traumatic migraine as well as anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

“I think all the adrenaline masked a lot of (the pain),” she said.

“By about probably 10.30pm to 11pm that night, I started to get really sore, and I was having trouble breathing.

“And we went up to the hospital and when I told them what had happened and what I was involved in, they were amazing, they rushed me straight in.”

Not a day goes by that Ms Merlehan doesn’t think about the crash.

“I drive past the intersection every day, at least twice a day. I can’t really avoid it because of where we live, which makes it really hard,” she said.

“I still won’t turn at that intersection.

“I think I’ve done it maybe twice since the accident, and I hold my breath the whole time I’m sitting there, I’m aware that that’s not normal, but I just can’t do it.

“I won’t even sit in the next lane over, like, I will only be in the furthest lane of that intersection.”

The intersection of Vienna and Finucane roads in Alexandra Hills filled with flowers and presents from the public. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

After the incident, Ms Merlehan was locked in a legal battle with her insurer. She was not covered because the offender was uninsured as the car was stolen, and she was also not entitled to any help from the government.

“My incident was categorised as a crime against property, so I’m actually not counted as a victim at all,” Ms Merlehan said.

“My car that got hit is counted as a loss of property, which means that I’m not entitled to assistance from the government, or assistance through victims of crime.”

Having recently joined the IMAC, Ms Merlehan said she was hoping to create change after she felt let down as a victim herself.

“I unfortunately, wasn’t given the opportunity to go to court or give a victim impact statement, and I really wish that I’d been given that opportunity,” she said.

“I wasn’t even aware of the trial date. I tried to get details, but because it was a juvenile, they had more of a focus on Matt and Kate’s family, which I understand.

“Obviously they lost people in that, but I also suffered long-term injuries, and my family was in the car, and we could have quite as easily have been in the exact same position.”

Ms Merlehan said it was frustrating to not be included as a victim.

“I feel like that would have been healing in a way, to be able to at least be in court,” she said.

Coming from a criminology background, and being a victim, Ms Merlehan said she felt like she could make some change on the committee.

“My passion is in making sure that victims are getting equal rights to perpetrators, because at the moment, that’s not what’s happening with assistance post-incident, going through the court process and things like that,” she said.

“We also really need to spend more time looking at what’s causing the offending and how we can intervene earlier.”

Ms Merlehan will go to Townsville next week with IMAC, where they will look at local organisations and services that focus on crime.

Since the incident, Ms Merlehan has kept in touch with Russell and Ann Field, the parents of Matthew.

“A meeting was facilitated between myself and (Russell) and Ann actually at the crash site,” she said. “So I got to meet them about six or eight months after the crash. So it was really nice to be able to meet them and say to them, I was there with Matt in his last moments. It was something I wanted.”

She said the couple, who now strongly campaign to address the youth crime crisis, were “incredible”.

“They were wonderful, they were very warm, they both reached out, gave me a big hug and we chatted for a while,” she said.