Michelle Zutt’s sentenced for killing Jakob Peck in Moruya crash
A woman found guilty of driving distracted and causing a horror South Coast crash which resulted in the “instant death” of a young man has avoided jail, instead receiving a community sentence and hundreds of hours of community service.
A woman found guilty of driving distracted and causing a horror South Coast crash which resulted in the “instant death” of a young man has avoided jail, instead receiving a community sentence and hundreds of hours of community service.
Michelle Zutt, 47, faced Parramatta District Court on Friday, with Judge Miiko Kumar delivering her judgment more than two years after the fatal crash at the Old Mossy Point Rd and Princes Hwy intersection that killed 23-year-old Jakob Peck.
Zutt was charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and pleaded not guilty, but a Bega District Court jury ultimately found her guilty following an eight-day trial.
Jurors heard how on the evening of July 4, 2023, Zutt was driving from Moruya to Batemans Bay to buy storage containers when she became distracted on the Princes Hwy and slammed into the back of Mr Peck’s stationary Toyota RAV4.
Mr Peck had been waiting to turn onto Old Mossy Point Rd to head home after work before the impact “shunted” his car into oncoming traffic, flipping it onto its roof and killing him instantly.
During the trial, Zutt took the stand and denied being distracted when the collision occurred.
She told jurors she had driven the route “hundreds of times”.
“I was driving along and then I saw headlights coming toward me and then my alarm in my car was beeping,” she said through tears.
“I glanced down and it said brake and then it all just happened.”
She claimed she could not recall her speed, despite evidence she had been travelling at 117km/h before slowing slightly and hitting Mr Peck’s vehicle at 100km/h.
“It came out of nowhere,” she said.
“Obviously I hit something, but I didn’t see it.”
Crown prosecutor Ciro Triscari said a driver paying proper attention would have seen Mr Peck’s car.
“You would see that car at the intersection if you were paying attention and this is why this is dangerous driving,” he told the jury during closings.
The jury took just two hours to return a guilty verdict.
When handing down judgment, Judge Kumar said she was satisfied Zutt was distracted in the moments before the collision.
“She was casually inattentive to the deceased car as it sat stationary at the intersection of the Princes Hwy and Old Mossy Point Rd – on a road she was very familiar with,” she said.
Judge Kumar also said she was also satisfied Zutt was speeding as she approached Mr Peck’s vehicle.
“She was travelling between 117 and 100km/h,” she said.
“The signposted area was 100km/h.
“I find she did not see the deceased car because of momentary inattention.”
Judge Kumar noted it was clear from November’s victim impact statements read in court by Mr Peck’s family and friends, that the young man’s loss had severely impacted his loved ones.
She said she needed to consider these statements when coming to punishment.
“I have taken the contents of these statements into account,” she said.
“The harm suffered by Jakob Peck’s family is an important factor in this sentencing.”
But, Judge Kumar said she also needed to consider Zutt’s lack of criminal history, “excellent” 30 year driving record and good prospects of rehabilitation.
She said considering these factors made full time custody not appropriate.
Instead, Zutt was convicted and sentenced to a two-year intensive correction order - a jail term served in the community.
She was also ordered to complete 360 hours of community service and her licence was disqualified for three years, backdated to the date of the offence on July 4, 2023.
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