Drink-driving Adelaide lawyer Lauren Jean Willgoose weeps amid sentencing submissions over hit-run death of pedestrian Anthony Walsh

A drink-driving lawyer who killed a pedestrian on an Adelaide street was not fully to blame, a court has heard, in her last-ditch plea to go home to her son.

A killer drink-driving lawyer should go home to her son, not jail, because her hit-run victim is “substantially” to blame for his own death by “choosing to cross the road” in front of her, a court has heard.

In a marathon 3 1/2-hour District Court hearing on Monday, Lauren Jean Willgoose said she was sorry that pedestrian Anthony Walsh was dead – but insisted she was not legally responsible for it.

Her barrister, former judge Paul Rice KC, conceded his client was drunk and “obviously should not have been” on the road, but argued responsibility for the incident “should be shared”.

Her drink-driving was, he said, “but one of two substantial causes of the accident” – the other being Mr Walsh’s “decision” to cross the road – and that warranted her receiving a home detention sentence.

“People cross the road thousands of times a day, they make the decision about whether to cross or not,” he said.

“If a wrong decision is made and a person is killed in that situation then, just like in the civil (lawsuit) courts, they can be held responsible.

Lauren Willgoose leaves the District Court in December after she was found guilty of causing the death of Tony Walsh by dangerous driving. Picture: Newswire / Brenton Edwards

“The inevitable, the unavoidable, is not criminal.”

Judge Nick Alexandrides said he could not accept that, as “this is not just like the civil law”.

“People do cross the road, and people who drive cars know that,” he said as Willgoose wept continuously in the dock.

“It’s their responsibility to ensure their standard of driving anticipates (that) and does not pose the risk of causing a collision.

“Your client had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 … she put herself in a position where she was not able to deal with that risk.”

Willgoose, 32, was found guilty at trial of aggravated causing death by dangerous driving and leaving an accident scene after causing death by careless driving.

In June 2021, she drank more than 1L of red wine at the Goody Park Hotel then “drove through” Mr Walsh, ignored the impact and went home.

Following the verdict, Walsh’s counsel argued there was a real question about the apportionment of blame”, and that their client was “not alone” in being at fault.

In their victim impact statements on Monday, Mr Walsh’s wife, Christine, and friends mourned the loss of the lively, energetic, music-loving and eccentric “bon vivant”.

Willgoose, they said, “lacked compassion and morality”, had “shown no remorse at all” and been “disrespectful” during her trial by laughing alongside her own family.

Mrs Walsh said she was now hyper-vigilant and had “noticed every white Kia Sportage in Adelaide”.

“When I knelt on the road beside him, I knew his heart was dead … when his heart stopped beating, it was still a very lonely place to be,” she said.

“I consider myself to be a compassionate person, but I find it difficult (given) the lack of contrition shown by the defendant.

“I was there on the night, I was sober, I know exactly what happened.”

Mr Rice said separating Willgoose from her son – with whom she fell pregnant, and was born, while she was being prosecuted – would only cause “more pain”.

He read an apology written by his client – who has filed an appeal against the verdict – to the court and to Mrs Walsh.

“There will never be the right words, or any words, that can accurately explain how sorry I am for the pain that has been caused by what happened,” it said.

“I just want you to know that I’m incredibly sorry for your loss … I would do anything to take away a portion of your pain.”

Michael Foundas, prosecuting, said the apology was self-serving, given Willgoose’s “refusal to accept the verdict”.

Falling pregnant while being prosecuted was, he said, a “reckless decision on her part” that did not justify home detention.

“Willgoose made selfish decisions … out of self-interest, self-protection and a complete and utter disregard for her actions or compassion,” he said.

“She abandoned responsibility for her conduct … Mr Walsh’s conduct had no part to play in her decision to flee the scene and leave him to die there, in the middle of the road.”

Judge Alexandrides remanded Willgoose on continuing bail for sentencing next month.

Originally published as Drink-driving Adelaide lawyer Lauren Jean Willgoose weeps amid sentencing submissions over hit-run death of pedestrian Anthony Walsh