Izak Kane Sefton-Bennett in court for crash that killed Christella Tan

A grieving widower has revealed his anguish over the justice process after a man high on meth and in a stolen car caused a crash that killed his beloved wife.

A widower visits the grave of his late wife weekly and the tears still flow nearly two years after his beloved was killed in a crash by a man high on drugs in a stolen car.

Izak Kane Sefton-Bennett had an “incredibly high” reading of meth in his system the morning of September 15, 2023, when he performed a violent home invasion and later killed 52-year-old aged care worker Christella ‘Stella’ Tan in a stolen car crash only metres from a school zone at Burnside on the Sunshine Coast.

He pleaded guilty to 13 charges in the Maroochydore District Court on Monday and was jailed for 10 years, with eligibility for parole after serving eight years. He was also disqualified from driving absolutely.

The sentence, however, for Stella’s husband Bernard Wee is a lifelong one filled with anxiety and panic attacks he would at first mistake for heart issues.

“There are many times that I wished that the accident had never happened to her,” he said.

Grieving widower Bernard Wee with wife Christella (Stella) Tan. Picture: Contributed

“When she died, I also died.

“I still go to her grave every week and cry so much.

Stella Tan died on September 15, 2023, when Izak Kane Sefton-Bennett crashed into the car Mrs Tan was driving in Burnside. Picture: Patrick Woods.

“I will never be the same person as I once was.”

As Mr Wee marked his birthday today, April 30, his second without Stella, he said he was “totally satisfied” with the sentence Sefton-Bennett was handed.

The grieving widower said he did not want to go through the court process.

“I never wanted to see the offender’s face and so remember it for a long time and I also didn’t want him to see me,” Mr Wee said.

Bernard Wee says his wife Christella Tan was the love of his life. Picture: Contributed

“I want to treasure the memories of my late wife, Stella, forever.

“Moreover, I felt quite sad that I don’t have enough strength or endurance to go through the sentencing session, because I really want to be there for the sake of Stella and her family, but I simply couldn’t do it at all.

“The car accident is simply too fresh in my mind and still very traumatic for me every day.”

Flower tributes at the scene of a crash in Burnside, which killed 52-year-old aged care worker Stella Tan. Photos: Elizabeth Neil

Mr Wee said he kept himself busy with his job and continued to find faith in God even though the burden of his grief was not any lighter since Stella’s death.

“I remember the detective on the TV said that when someone you love died, the ripples on the water spread very rapidly so the effects of Stella’s death have been so devastating for me that I lost all my self-confidence and courage to face people for several months,” he said.

“I was locked inside my mother’s house to deal with my deep grief and sorrows.”

Bernard Wee and Christella (Stella) Tan were married for five years. Picture: Contributed

He said he was comforted by Stella’s cousin who told him his late wife loved him “beyond everything”, but he had never understood the exact reasons Stella was “stolen” from him.

“We were so happy together but in that moment, the accident changed everything for me,” Mr Wee said.

“Nobody could answer my question, ‘Why, why, why her?’

“So I will just wait for my turn to die so that I can finally leave this world and stop grieving for her.

“I will join her in heaven, my beloved Stella.”

Stella’s death is only one of a number of crashes caused by drivers on drugs or affected by alcohol on the Sunshine Coast over the past few years.

Last week, Rob Pitt marked the third anniversary of the horror crash that killed his son, Aaron, and Aaron’s colleague Lleyton Bartlett on April 21, 2022.

Rob Pitt's (pictured) son, mechanic Aaron, and Aaron’s colleague Lleyton Bartlett were killed while attending to a bus breakdown on Nambour Connection Rd in Woombye in 2022. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The anniversary of the mechanics’ deaths fell on Easter Monday, the day of another crash on the Bruce Hwy that killed 22-year-old Jocelyn Grace Mollee.

The pair was repairing a broken-down bus on the side of Nambour Connection Rd in Woombye when they were hit by a car, driven by Kelly Liddicoat.

Liddicoat was convicted of dangerous driving causing death and jailed for six and a half years with parole eligibility after two and a half years. She pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of pharmaceutical drugs.

Mr Pitt told this publication last week that his “heart just broke” for Ms Mollee’s family following her death.

“It is indescribable, it is the most traumatic thing anyone could go through to get that news about your child, to hear about how they passed,” Mr Pitt said.

The grieving dad had also not forgotten Stella’s death.

“They seem to come to you, these tragedies and I feel for the families and there has been so many over the last few years,” Mr Pitt said.

“In all these instances they are such beautiful people and I don’t understand why it has to happen to them.”

If you or someone you love is in crisis or needs support right now, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636. If it is an emergency please call triple-0.