Clinton Benjamin Leisha jailed for Herbener manslaughter crash

A Supreme Court judge has described the deliberately dangerous actions of the driver who killed a beloved grandmother and highly-respected community member as “insanity at its highest”.

The last two words Peter Herbener said to his wife of 52 years before a car driven ‘extremely recklessly’ and ‘deliberately dangerously’ crashed into theirs head-on were revealed as the unlicensed driver of the other vehicle was sentenced for manslaughter.

It was also revealed one of their sons, William, attended the crash scene, which “annihilated” the front end of the couple’s Mazda and caused catastrophic injuries to 70-year-old Dianne and critical injuries to Peter, who died on the operating table but was resuscitated, the Supreme Court in Rockhampton heard on May 28.

Clinton Benjamin Leisha drove his vehicle across double white lines to overtake two vehicles around a blind corner on Razorback Road near the Waynes Lane intersection about 7.20am on February 19, 2024.

Leisha’s Nissan ute, fitted with a bullbar, was on the wrong side of the road – in the Herbener’s lane heading straight for them.

Justice Graeme Crow said Peter told his wife, who was in the passenger seat: “brace yourself” a split second before attempting to manoeuvre their car out of the path of Leisha’s ute by veering off to the side of the road.

Dianne and Peter Herbener.

He said Leisha, who was unlicensed at the time, also veered and the two vehicles crashed head-on.

“Mr Herbener saw a large puff of smoke as his airbags deployed, the horn cover hit his head and he pulled the airbag from his face,” Justice Crow said.

“He was trapped in the vehicle and looked to his wife, who was slumped over and groaning.”

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips said the impact “annihilated” the front of the Herbener’s Mazda.

He described Leisha’s driving as “deliberately dangerous”.

Justice Crow said Leisha’s passenger was still wearing a seatbelt and was slumped over as Leisha exited his vehicle with blood on the right side of his mouth and said “I’ve got to get out of here” and started walking back towards Mount Morgan carrying a backpack.

“A quick-thinking civilian took an image of (Leisha) as (he) fled,” he said.

Mr Phillips said, “Shamefully, after the collision and when it became apparent the carnage that he had caused, he acted ‘the coward’ and fled in a very callous fashion.”

The court heard other road users, including an off-duty nurse, were the first at the scene to administer what first aid they could.

Justice Crow said one of the Herbener’s sons arrived at the scene as firefighters were cutting them out of their vehicle before they were rushed to Rockhampton Hospital.

He said Mr Herbener underwent emergency surgery for a shattered spleen that was bleeding profusely into his abdomen, and during surgery his heart stopped twice due to blood loss but he was resuscitated.

“Following surgery, bacteria was found in his blood,” Justice Crow.

He said Mr Herbener was in a coma for several days and had he not had surgery to remove his spleen, he would be dead.

“A few days after he woke up, Mrs Herbener passed away,” Justice Crow said.

Mr Herbener left hospital on March 13 and still had pain in his left foot and back.

“He was hopeful he would make a physical recovery, though emotionally knew he lost his soulmate, his life would never be the same,” Justice Crow said.

The court heard Mrs Herbener suffered catastrophic injuries including extensive chest injuries and head injuries, along with significant blood loss and her heart stopping multiple times with successful resuscitation by medical professionals until her life support was ultimately switched off.

Mr Phillips said Peter, in his victim impact statement, described his wife as “the glue that kept the family of six children together.”

Peter and Dianne Herbener on their wedding day.

“He feels lost,” he said.

“He feels as if he is now, because he has lost his independence, can’t use a bathroom unassisted – a burden on the children, which emphasises the extent, and really in a way the permanence, of the impact on his remaining years.

“He feels like he has lost the other half of his heart.”

Mr Phillips said their son Kelvin spoke of Dianne’s community work in his impact statement, from school events to charities, while William wrote about attending the crash scene that day.

Images shared by Dianne Herbener's family.

“The image that confronted him when he attended the scene … something that he will never be able to erase from his memory,” he said.

Justice Crow said Mr Herbener now receives care also from Blue Care service.

“The whole of society suffers,” he said.

“Everyone’s running around trying to fix the problems (Leisha) caused, and they can’t be fixed.”

Dianne Herbener, president and Gwen Scott, treasurer of the Mt Morgan historical museum

He said William talked about the difficulty of watching his mother’s body being put in a body bag.

Leisha was seen by his family members that day to have a swollen face, Justice Crow said.

He said they were unable to wake him up as he slept on the couch so they called for an ambulance and police arrived.

Justice Crow said police had to force entry to the area of the house where Leisha slept as it was locked and Leisha was taken to hospital and arrested after he was medically discharged with no major injuries.

Leisha was charged and remanded in custody ever since.

Mr Phillips said Leisha had offered no evidence of genuine remorse for the impact of his actions on the Herbener family.

Defence barrister Sheridan Shaw said her client was not one of many words and he struggled with reading and writing, but had offered his verbal apology to the family through her.

She said his early criminal history was due to issues with alcohol abuse and then there was a break in offending until he was introduced to methamphetamines.

Ms Shaw said since that introduction and this offence, Leisha’s “had no other interests other than the drug”.

“This period of custody has been his longest period of sobriety since the drug entered his life,” she said.

Justice Crow said material provided to him detailed Leisha’s disadvantaged childhood.

Mr Phillips said it was a “serious, seriously dangerous, deliberate choice and no explanation” has been given as to why Leisha crossed double white lines on a blind corner to overtake two cars that morning.

The court heard they were in an 80km/hr zone which had an advisory of 70km/hr speed to go around the blind corner.

Justice Crow replied that it was “extreme recklessness” and “he (Leisha) just doesn’t care because he’s done it before” (referring to his traffic record).

He said trying to overtake two cars by going across double white lines around a blind bend “is insanity at its highest”.

Leisha was on three suspended sentences at the time to which Justice Crow suggested if Leisha had served actual time in prison for just one of these, this fatal incident would not have occurred.

Mr Phillips said not only did Leisha have an extensive criminal record consisting of 87 convictions, including convictions for disqualified driving or unlicensed driving, but he had previously been fined for crossing continuous white lines.

He said Leisha’s probation and parole report demonstrated “very little motivation to engage with the rehabilitation that was offered”.

Justice Crow said Leisha’s 10-page criminal history includes convictions for violence, drugs, wilful damage, domestic violence, weapons and property offences.

He has an entry in his traffic record for crossing continuous white lines on the side of a painted island from April 13, 2020.

Leisha also had a drug driving conviction from December 13, 2019.

Justice Crow said Leisha persists in living a “totally destructive lifestyle” as his parole report showed he repeatedly refused to attend rehabilitation programs and was unwilling to address his offending behaviours.

Leisha pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm and leaving the scene before police arrived, driving unlicensed and being a repeated unlicensed driver, driving an unregistered vehicle, driving an uninsured motor vehicle and driving a motor vehicle with registration plates attached that belonged to another vehicle.

Justice Crow sentenced him to 13 years prison (11 years for manslaughter plus two for dangerous operation), declared him a serious violent offender, declared 464 days presentence custody as time already served and ordered he be disqualified from driving absolutely.