Matilda Delves pleads guilty after fatal crash at Raymond Terrace December last year
A Medowie woman who was trying to stop a receipt blowing around in her car, crossed over onto the wrong side of the road, before she slammed head on with another vehicle killing the driver.
Newcastle
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A UK man was on holiday with his partner in Australia last year, driving around parts of the country sight-seeing including glorious Port Stephens, when he tragically died in a car accident.
The driver of the vehicle that hit Patrick Bassett on December 8 on Richardson Rd at Raymond Terrace was Medowie woman Matilda Delves.
The 21-year-old had just finished work that morning and had done some Christmas shopping before her Toyota Corolla crossed over to the wrong side of the wrong and smashed into an oncoming vehicle, killing the 58-year-old.
“I just went to Big W and bought an airfryer, the receipt was blowing around and I tried to stop it,” an in-shock Ms Delves told police following the crash, outlined in court documents.
“I was reaching for my receipt it was going to fly out the window, I looked up and crossed to the other side of the road.
“I’m not too sure what happened if the other car came at me or not But we started spinning.”
Police facts stated Mr Bassett was trapped in the vehicle, while his partner was screaming in shock.
Passer-bys and a local GP ran over to help Mr Bassett who was “unresponsive” and “groaning” and started CPR, but he couldn’t be saved and died at the scene.
Ms Delves was placed under arrest and taken for mandatory testing.
It was later revealed a small amount of the illicit drug Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - which is present in cannabis - was in her system at the time of the crash.
Police facts stated she had told police she had smoked a joint at a party a week earlier and it was not a regular thing.
Court documents stated a pharmacologist report said the small amount would not have impaired the driver.
In Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday Ms Delves pleaded guilty to drive in a manner dangerous occasioning death and cause bodily harm through misconduct.
Two counts of negligent driving, not keep left of the dividing lane and driving with illicit drugs present will be backup charges and to be taken into account on sentencing.
She’ll head to the District Court next month.