Teen driver kills Qld grandmother in attempt to take his own life over Snapchat ‘sextortion’ plot

A teenage boy who fell prey to a Snapchat “sextortion” plot was so distressed that he attempted to take his own life but ended up killing a South East Queensland grandmother.

The crash that killed Queensland grandmother Karen Malcolm.

A teenage boy who fell prey to a Snapchat “sextortion” plot was so distressed by the scammer’s threat to release his nude photos that he attempted to take his own life, ploughing his four-wheel drive into oncoming traffic and killing a Queensland grandmother.

The 17-year-old suffered only minor injuries in the crash which claimed the life of 63-year-old bus driver Karen Malcolm who was returning home to her family after work when the teen crossed into her lane at more than 100kmh, colliding head-on with her car.

The teenage driver, now aged 19, was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

He will serve 18 months in an adult prison before he is released.

The court heard the tragedy unfolded in August 2022 after the then-17-year-old fell prey to a ‘sextortion’ scam in which he was enticed to send explicit photos to a person claiming to be a young woman named Amber Rose.

Once the scammer had the photos, he began extorting the teen, threatening to make the images public unless he transferred $900.

Justice Peter Davis said the boy transferred $500 and then a further $200 borrowed from a friend, but it did not stop the scammer who sent one of the photos to an online friend of the boy.

Karen Malcolm died at the scene of the crash. Picture: Contributed

The teen pleaded with the scammer to stop and threatened to take his own life before writing a final message to his tormentor that said: “Hope you sleep better knowing you killed me”.

Justice Davis said on the evening of August 9, the boy got in his Toyota LandCruiser and drove along the Bells Creek Arterial Road at Corbould Park on the Sunshine Coast.

He crossed into the wrong lane to try hit a car whose driver swerved, with the teen’s car clipping the other vehicle’s rear bumper.

The young driver then returned to the correct side of the road in his Toyota LandCruiser before again swerving into the wrong lane 900m down the road.

This time he slammed head on into 63-year-old Ms Malcolm who tried to avoid the collision by steering out of the way and braking in her Toyota Kluger.

“Ms Malcolm was killed instantly as a direct result of the injuries sustained in the collision,” Justice Davis said.

“Prior to emergency services attending, another driver stopped to assist, this driver asked if you were on the phone and you replied, ‘I wasn’t on the phone, I just had a really bad night and needed to go out for a drive’.”

The tragic fatal crash on the Sunshine Coast.

Justice Davis said while the teen had no excuse for his behaviour, he did have an explanation.

“I accept that the explanation for your offending is that you panicked when threatened by Amber Rose and the threat of public disclosure of the photographs so impacted you that you attempted to suicide by causing a motor vehicle accident in which you hoped to die,” he said.

A psychological report was tendered to the court which said the defendant did not recall feeling suicidal and explained when he chose to drive in his distressed state “I wasn’t thinking, I wasn’t going out of my way to do it, I was just driving, I wasn’t thinking about where I was”.

The psychologist said at the time of the offending, the teen he was experiencing an acute stress reaction in response to the realisation he had fallen victim to a sextortion scam and his intense distress caused him to dissociate

“As soon as they said they had my pictures my brain just exploded,” he told the psychologist.

The court heard Ms Malcolm has been a bus driver for almost three decades, and had been a school driver for the past 15 years.

Justice Davis said a victim impact statement tendered to the court showed the “grief and misery” suffered by her loved ones in the wake of her tragic death.

The court heard the teen had no criminal or traffic history, was a low risk of reoffending and had strong family support with good prospects for a productive life.

He will serve 50 per cent of the three-year sentence. A conviction was recorded and he was disqualified from driving for 18 months.