Sonya McMaster tells of Shani Hando crash death horror

Two mothers have confronted each other for the first time in court after one’s “stupid decision” left the other mum forced to farewell her daughter forever.

A woman who got behind the wheel while drunk and affected by drugs has told a court she and her friend were in the car together because they were going to get alcohol and cigarettes, that they later realised were not needed right before a horror crash claimed the life of a much-loved mum.

Orange woman Sonya McMaster, 34, spoke publicly for the first time on Friday about the crash which killed her friend and passenger Peak Hill mother of two Shani Hando on December 28, 2020.

Shani Hando was just 34 when she was killed. Picture: Facebook

During an emotional day in the District Court at Dubbo, Shani’s mother Donna also appeared to read a victim impact statement out and hear from McMaster for the first time since the crash on the Tomingley West Rd, about 60km southwest of Dubbo.

McMaster has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death while under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

After being called to give evidence, McMaster sobbed as she told of the circumstances surrounding the crash and how it affected her.

The mother-of-three said Ms Hando and her had been friends for more than 20 years after they went to school together in Peak Hill.

“We always maintained a good relationship,” McMaster said.

“Shani was quite a lovely person and loveable. Every time I’d go home to Peak Hill, we’d always catch up.”

Sonya McMaster was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after the crash, the court heard. Picture: Sonya McMaster /Facebook

The court heard Ms Hando and McMaster were drinking together on the night before the crash and McMaster said she stopped drinking at about midnight after finishing a six-pack of beers and an unknown quantity of light beers.

“I hadn’t seen her in quite some time, we were having a really good time,” McMaster told the court.

“All I remember is we were sitting there and Shani wanted to go for a drive to get more alcohol and smokes, because she was out of her cigarettes.

“In that instance I said ‘that’s okay I can drive you’ … it was a stupid decision that I made, one I’m very ashamed of … I take full responsibility for that decision and it’s something I have to live with for the rest of my life.

“I’ve never smoked … I wish I had the courage to say no. I don’t know what it’s like to have that sort of addiction.”

In McMaster’s Holden Barina, the court heard she and Ms Hando ventured off to the village of Tomingley, about 15 minutes from Peak Hill.

Ms Hando knew the publican and attempts were made to get him to sell alcohol because no one would in Peak Hill, the court heard.

“Eventually somebody answered the Tomingley pub phone and he said ‘no we’re not serving alcohol,” McMaster said.

“I knew no alcohol was going to be served at 8.30am in the morning but in that instance we just continued because you just do.”

After they got to Tomingley, another woman made a call to check the pair got there safely. McMaster told the court it was during that call, she and Ms Hando were told there were still cigarettes back in Peak Hill and they did not need to leave home.

On their way back to Peak Hill, McMaster, who had been in the process of completing a teaching degree, veered off the road and rolled the car multiple times.

“I remember five times it rolled and then it stopped upside down, the first thing I looked for was Shani and she wasn’t beside me,” McMaster told the court.

“I climbed out my window and was looking and screaming for her in the hope she was okay.

“I ran down the road … I just ran as fast as I could to get help because I didn’t want her laying there by herself.”

After noticing a farm shed, McMaster went to a nearby property for help and the occupants rushed to the scene.

“I could imagine how they felt, they were probably having their morning coffee at home and there’s this lady screaming down their driveway for help,” McMaster said.

“I’m aware the lady who was there who helped me, who I ran to, I know that she placed the sheet over Shani.

“She had come back and let me know she was gone.”

When police tested McMaster’s breath after the crash a reading of 0.09 was recorded, which was almost twice the legal blood alcohol limit.

A further test revealed she was under the influence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) at the time of the crash.

Sonya McMaster will be sentenced at the District Court in Dubbo in December. Picture: Ryan Young

McMaster told the court she had been awake the entire night before the crash and when asked what she wanted to say to Ms Hando’s mother Donna who was watching court proceedings via audiovisual link, McMaster said “sorry”.

“I knew it was going to affect them terribly,” she said.

“It breaks my heart.”

In the months after the crash, the court heard McMaster never sought treatment from a psychologist, but that changed in October in the lead up to her sentencing when she started seeing a psychologist.

“I was trying to mask what was happening,” she said.

“I was trying to focus on continuing at uni, looking for a job, I had to find a house because the house I was in got sold.

“I was trying to hide my embarrassment, my humiliation.”

McMaster said after the crash she stopped using cannabis.

“I’ve had a little wine here and there but I haven’t really been drunk,” she told the court.

When Crown prosecutor Virginia Morgan asked McMaster why she was not driving on the main road between Peak Hill and Tomingley at the time of the crash, McMaster said “I was under the influence and the back road has less traffic.”

McMaster rejected a suggestion she drove on the back road because she thought there would be a smaller chance of police patrolling it.

The court heard McMaster had a record of committing driving offences, including driving while suspended, speeding and driving an unregistered vehicle.

While reading out her statement to the court, Donna Hando broke down several times as she described the aftermath of learning her daughter had passed away.

“I tried to run and collapsed on the road outside my neighbours, screaming ‘no’,” Donna said.

“My 75-year-old mother drove me while we were escorted to the scene by police. It felt like an out-of-body experience, I was there but I wasn’t … I formally identified my girl, laying in the grass on the road side.

“To see her broken and lifeless is an image that will stay with me all my days and it brought me to my knees.”

Shani with her brother Torin. Picture: Facebook

Donna said Shani was more than a daughter.

“She was my best friend and my defender, we were together daily, her at my house or me at hers,” she said,

“We would talk and drink coffee, give each other their thoughts.

“Shani was well liked, respected and a much-appreciated person. She was always uplifting people with words of encouragement and she always liked making and buying little gifts for her family just because she loved them.”

Donna remembered Shani as a naturally talented young woman who worked hard running her own cafe and later cooking meals at a club in Peak Hill.

“Drawing, painting, power tools, she could do it all,” Ms Hando said.

“She would take me out of town shopping, take me out to lunch and to get my hair done. If I did not understand technology she would show me.

“When I was upset, Shani was there to listen and sometimes give me advice. When I was caring for my son’s father at home through his battle with esophageal cancer, Shani was the one who organised his first and last surprise barbecue and birthday cake.”

Soccer was a big passion of Shani’s and she coached a junior team in Dubbo, Donna told the court.

“Shani started her own soccer team, the Peak Hill All Stars and she encouraged local women and girls to join her team and they played in the Parkes competition.

“Before Shani passed away, she was in the process of forming a junior soccer team in Peak Hill, she had chosen a name for them, the Peak Hill Shooting Stars.”

Shani Hando’s death has devastated the Peak Hill community. Picture: Facebook

Donna said she still visits Shani’s home and that her daughter would never be forgotten.

“I tried to sort her personal belongings, I mow her lawn and I sometimes buy a coffee and go and sit on the veranda like we used to, except I’m sitting there alone,” she said.

“That’s all been smashed away because of a stupid decision and choice.

“It breaks my heart over and over again everyday, to wake up and realise she is no longer here. I feel empty and there is a big gaping wound inside me that’s never going to heal.”

Delivering closing remarks, defence barrister Tom Seeney said the court should make a finding of special circumstances because McMaster was relatively young, had never served time in jail before, was likely to be rehabilitated and had been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder.

Ms Morgan said a community-based prison sentence was not appropriate for McMaster and a punishment needed to be delivered to deter community members from repeating McMaster’s mistake.

“Ms Hando was not the person with the legal obligation … this offender is the person who had the obligations as the driver of the vehicle,” Ms Morgan said.

“Having taken on the responsibility and the risk which she was well aware of, she must now bare the burden of the consequences of that.

“It’s an outcome that could have so very easily been avoided.”

Judge Nanette Williams said there were a “trifecta of factors” that went against McMaster’s bid for a jail term in the community, namely the drugs, alcohol and sleep deprivation.

McMaster will learn her fate on December 9.