Helen Martin: Castlemaine mum on MDMA, booze night of near-fatal crash

A Castlemaine mother who was high on MDMA and drunk when she caused a serious crash that nearly killed her friends has been sentenced in court.

Castlemaine mother Helen Martin, 44, appeared at Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday June 16 to plead guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury after driving while drunk and on MDMA. Picture: Facebook

A Castlemaine mother of three was high on MDMA and drunk when she caused a serious crash that nearly killed her friends, a court has heard.

Helen Martin, 44, held back tears and was comforted by her victims when she was sentenced in Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

She pleaded guilty to drug and drink driving, dangerous driving causing serious injury and possessing cannabis and hallucinogenic mushrooms.

The court heard on Friday January 31 2020 Martin and her three friends were partying at the Theatre Royal, Castlemaine.

For four hours Martin was seen drinking and taking MDMA at the venue before the group left after 11pm.

Martin drove a 1991 Land Rover towards the Golden Point reservoir, 8km northeast of the venue.

The car swerved across Golden Point Rd, skimming the passenger side for 27m before Martin overcorrected veering the car onto the right side before swerving back to the left.

The car jumped a small ravine and smashed into a ditch.

Two of her friends were thrown from the car into a paddock.

Two people were flown to hospital in a serious condition and a woman was taken to Bendigo hospital.

One woman sustained a serious injury to her spine and blood vessels.

She had fractured bones in her spine, fractured ribs, a cut to her forehead and lip, a broken tooth and abrasions to her legs and arms.

A man was left with an open scalp wound, cuts to his arms, and thumb, a slight fracture and a torn ligament in his knee.

Court documents said he couldn’t walk while in a knee brace meaning he couldn’t work for more than two months.

A second woman taken to Bendigo Health suffered a serious injury to her ankle, a swollen nose, tenderness in her hip, chest and abdomen and an abrasion to her left elbow.

Martin initially refused treatment, despite a head injury and rib issues.

She was tested for drugs and alcohol, which produced a positive reading for MDMA and an estimated blood alcohol reading of 0.103.

A search of the crash site uncovered Martin’s small purse which contained magic mushrooms and cannabis.

Martin later told police she had a “foggy memory” of the night in which she nearly killed her three friends.

Police said Martin was remorseful, saying she was struggling with poor mental health when she was given the drugs by friends.

The court heard Martin had a single drink driving prior in 2001, where she recorded a 0.130 blood alcohol reading.

The Castlemaine mother sat quietly in the court next to two of her friends who were injured by her actions.

In a victim impact statement Karolina Cutler said she had healed physically and the rehabilitation process had brought her closer to her partner.

“I have a lot more confidence in my resilience,” Ms Cutler said.

Martin’s lawyer, Luke Docherty said she was terrified of her sentence, as a third of all dangerous driving causing serious injury cases end with a prison term.

“It’s been weighing very heavily on her … like the sword of Damocles,” Mr Docherty said.

Magistrate Patrick Southey said Martin’s case was unusual, as her crimes were more typical for a young man with an already appalling driving history.

“(But) just because she’s in her forties with three kids doesn’t mean she’s prohibited from having fun,” Mr Southey said.

Mr Southey said he considered the mother-of-three’s “unusually forgiving” victims and her steps towards rehabilitation in her favour.

When Mr Southey announced the Castlemaine mother would not go to prison she let out a “thank God”.

Martin put her hand to her face and held back tears as her friends comforted her in the courtroom.

She was given a two-year community corrections order, with a focus on mental health and 250 hours of community work.

Her licence was disqualified for two years and she was fined $100 for the possession of the drugs.