Lacey Perger to be sentenced for deliberately hitting woman with a car

A tragic young mother whose life was torn apart by drugs and abuse before she ran down her love rival with a car has learned her fate in court.

A young mother in the grips of post-natal depression and ice and heroin addiction wept with remorse after she ran down her ex-partner’s new girlfriend in a rage.

Lacey Perger was just 20 when she had her first baby in July 2020, while she was in a turbulent on-again off-again relationship with the child’s father.

A court heard Perger had resumed using heroin and ice almost immediately after she gave birth – and wanted to reconcile with her ex-partner when she discovered he had another partner shortly after they had become intimate again.

In a rage, Perger drove to her ex-partner’s Revesby home to get answers – before driving into the backyard, careening towards the pair and hitting her love rival with the car, leaving her with “catastrophic” injuries to her feet and legs on September 12 last year.

Perger pleaded guilty to using an offensive weapon to commit an indictable offence, intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to a person and driving as an unaccompanied learner.

A charge of attempted murder was dropped.

Lacey Perger.

At Sydney District Court on November 26, Judge Ian McClintock sentenced Perger to six years’ imprisonment with a two-and-a-half year non-parole period.

She will be eligible for parole on March 16 2023.

Judge McClintock recommended drug rehabilitation, psychological counselling for trauma and anger management, and vocational training.

He also recommended Perger be considered for the mother and child program, given she was separated from her child only weeks after his birth when she went into custody.

At a sentence hearing on October 22, Perger wept when she told the court of her remorse about the incident.

“She can’t work properly, she can’t walk properly and I feel bad about that,” Perger said through tears.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt anyone – I’m very sorry.”

Crown prosecutor Alexandra Pearson questioned why Perger had only expressed remorse more recently, after saying she was not sorry for what she had done when she was first taken into custody in September 2020.

“I was coming down off all the drugs, I was angry at the world,” Perger said.

Perger dissolved into tears again, continuing: “I’d just been taken from my baby.”

Lacey Perger.

The court heard Perger had lived a tragic life marred by drug abuse since the tender age of 12, and she had taken a shot of heroin only moments before she handed herself into police over the incident.

Perger had remained abstinent from drugs for most of her pregnancy but began using again as soon as she gave birth.

“I need to work on my anger issues, being a good mother, my drug issues – I’m not out of the woods but I feel like I’m almost there,” Perger told the court.

“I still may need some counselling for it and all the trauma I’ve been through, I believe I need counselling.”

The court also heard Perger had lied about her drug use to Justice Health when she was taken into custody because she was afraid of losing her son forever.

The child was less than eight weeks old when Perger went into prison on remand, where she has remained ever since.

Lacey Perger.

Perger also told the court she had suffered a miscarriage shortly before falling pregnant with her son and had made allegations of domestic violence against her former partner, for which the man was charged and now remains before the courts.

The young woman dropped her head and sobbed when her barrister Paul Johnson acknowledged she knew she would be behind bars for some time yet due to her grave offending, describing the consequences for the victim as “catastrophic”.

“The victim has suffered terrible injuries which require ongoing medical treatment more than a year later,” Mr Johnson told the court.

“Miss Perger had involvement in that drug lifestyle through her teen years and now her adult life – this arose at a time when Your Honour would hopefully accept she was not equipped to make sensible decisions.”

Mr McClintock characterised the victim impact statement as “disturbing”.

“It is a sad document in terms of the consequences to the victim,” Mr McClintock said.

“Sad is probably an understatement – the consequences have been awful and long term.”

Perger will be sentenced at Sydney District Court on November 25.