Scarlett Lenehan death: Alec Vidot-Coleman’s road history revealed in cross-examination
A sentence hearing for a man who killed his young girlfriend in a horrific crash has heard a bombshell claim about something he did weeks earlier.
Northern District Times
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A matter of seconds stood between an aspiring football player leaving a petrol station with his 20-year-old girlfriend and tragically killing her after his Nissan Silvia smashed into another car.
Those seconds were painfully analysed over a three-day sentence hearing into Alec Vidot-Coleman’s dangerous driving, which he admitted caused Scarlett Leneham’s death in West Ryde in December 2019.
Ms Lenehan, who died in hospital, was a 2016 honour roll student at the exclusive Sydney girls’ school, Loreto Kirribilli.
A now 24-year-old Vidot-Coleman, who has told Downing Centre District Court he’d recently been approached by a Victorian AFL club to play football professionally, could not hold back tears as he wished he could trade places with his “best friend”.
But on the final hour of the third day of the hearing, it was an incident which happened six weeks earlier that became the focus.
The Crown prosecutor asked Vidot-Coleman if he had misled the court the day before when he denied he was travelling at 100km/h at the time of the crash, because he said he would never drive that fast with someone else in the car.
He responded: “I didn’t say I never had, I said I wouldn’t do that”.
After being pressed, Vidot-Coleman admitted to a police officer pulling him over for speeding when he drove 100km/h with his brother in the car in 2019, just six weeks prior to the crash which killed Ms Leneham.
The crown prosecutor asked him why he said he would never do that, citing the risk it posed to his loved ones. He told her he had meant it was out of character for him to drive at that speed.
Vidot-Coleman’s legal team has argued his speed alone did not cause the crash, that he was travelling a maximum of 80km/h in the 60km zone, and that other factors such as a wet road and minimal tyre tread played a part.
Earlier in court, an emotional Vidot-Coleman told the court he wished it could all be different.
“I wish it wasn’t her. If there was anything I could do to change any part of what happened I would. If I could trade places I would. She was the nicest, kindest person,” the court heard.
In emotional scenes, Vidot-Coleman recalled how he came to lose control of his car, just 30 seconds after he and Ms Lenehan had left a petrol station at West Ryde.
The young couple were on their way to Maccas for ice-cream after a day of playing netball and looking forward to their trip to America they booked just days ago.
On Friday, the crown prosecutor cross-examined crash expert Eli Kanaan, who told the court Vidot-Coleman’s car was not damaged enough for him to have been travelling 100km/h. But the crown asked where he got the information about the circumstances of the crash when he assessed the car two years after it.
Mr Kanaan told the court he was told what happened by Vidot-Coleman’s father. He agreed with the crown prosecutor that he could give no evidence about the speed of the Nissan before the impact.
Vidot-Coleman pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the death last year, after initially pleading not guilty to the charge in February.
The sentence hearing will continue on Monday.
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