Grace Wheatley: conviction remains for P-plater who hit and killed lawn bowler

A young woman has been “suffering immensely” following a freak crash that killed a 69-year-old man outside a bowling club.

A judge has refused to drop a conviction for a young Kiama P-plater found guilty of negligent driving, after a tragic crash that claimed the life of an avid lawn bowler outside a south coast bowling club in 2019.

Grace Wheatley, 21, faced the NSW District Court in Wollongong on Wednesday, where her lawyer appealed the conviction and 18-month community corrections order she was sentenced to following a crash that killed 69-year-old Mark Wilson.

Grace Wheatley leaves Wollongong Local Court on January 28. Picture: Madeline Crittenden

Mr Wilson, of the Sutherland Shire, suffered significant head injuries and was flown to St George Hospital on May 16, 2019, after he was hit by a Toyota Corolla being driven by Miss Wheatley, then 19, on Noorinan St, Kiama around 4.30pm.

He died not long after the crash.

The tragic collision occurred just outside the Kiama Bowling Club, where Miss Wheatley hit the man, before rear-ending a truck that was parked illegally on the side of the road.

During a hearing earlier this year, the court heard Wheatley was blinded by the sun at the time of the incident, with Magistrate Michael O’Brien finding her driving “departed from the standard of a driver faced with difficult circumstances”.

During her appeal on Thursday, her lawyer Patrict Schmidt told Judge Anthony Blackmore that Miss Wheatley’s driving was not negligent, rather that she was acting in the safest way she could.

“Our submission is that when she was blinded she immediately reached for the visor which was a reasonable response but it was a situation where it was too late,” he said.

The scene of the crash in Kiama. Picture: Madeline Crittenden

Mr Schmidt argued the conviction against his client should be dropped, telling the court there were “no winners” and that Miss Wheatley had suffered immensely since the accident.

However Jude Blackmore said Miss Wheatley was not driving reasonably at the time, and that she should have stopped the car.

“She hit the truck because she couldn’t see, it’s as clear as day that when you continue to drive when you cannot see you’re not driving reasonably,” he said.

“If you can’t see you can’t drive and she should have avoided that by stopping or slowing right down …. in weather conditions like hail or rain people pull over and stop because they can’t see.”

Judge Blackmore agreed to lower Miss Wheatley’s sentence from a community corrections order to a bond to be of good behaviour for two years and removed a $500 fine, however left the conviction in place.

“This can’t be treated as a trivial offence and a conviction needs to be recorded,” he said.

Miss Wheatley was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.