Patricia Mica: Distracted driver who killed Camberwell grandmother sentenced

A distracted driver who didn’t see an elderly grandmother with a “beautiful soul” trying to cross a road in Melbourne’s east has been sentenced over her death.

A distracted driver has avoided jail over her split-second decision to look at a vase sitting on her front passenger seat that led to the death of an elderly pedestrian.

Patricia Mica, 38, held her head in her hands and sobbed as she was sentenced in the County Court for dangerous driving causing the death of Astrid Yevonne Norman, 75, in July 2019.

Ms Norman, a Camberwell resident, had tried to cross Riversdale Road not far from where she lived at 1.50pm on July 5, when she was hit by Mica and killed instantly.

Mica had been moving house that day from Canterbury to Camberwell and was distracted by a vase on her front seat when the tragedy occurred.

The court heard the view of Ms Norman would have been potentially blocked by a car in front of Mica, with only a three second window available to see her.

The distraught driver stopped at the scene and told police how she had glanced at the vase because she thought it was going to fall and heard “a bang”.

The court heard that in the two years since the crash, the lives of all involved had been devastated.

Norman’s daughter, Emma Smith, said her mum was her “greatest friend” who had sacrificed everything to provide for her two children away from her native Sweden.

“Ironically, sadly and unbelievably we lost my brother to a careless driver in London in 2003,” she said.

“Only in the last few years mum had begun enjoying life to her fullest again. My mother is not just a faceless statistic, she was one-of-a-kind, a beautiful soul on this earth. I miss her greatly.”

Ms Smith said while she wasn’t ready to forgive Mica for her death, she “knew” her mum would give her blessing for the woman to move on and live her life.

Patricia Mica, 38, was found to “near the lowest level” of cupability for the death of elderly woman crossing at Riversdale Rd, Camberwell, on July 5, 2019.

Norman’s sister-in-law and best friend of 52 years, Susan Ledwidge, also said Ms Norman would forgive her.

“I know Patricia didn‘t mean to kill Yvonne and that sentence is something she will have to live with,” she said.

“Yvonne would forgive you and, going forward, would wish you to live your life.”

The court heard the killing had weighed “enormously” on Mica, a deeply religious woman, who had developed serious mental health problems as a result.

Her barrister Paul Smallwood read a letter the 38-year-old had written to the court the previous week saying she relived the trauma of the accident every day.

“Words can‘t begin to express how sorry I am that this has happened,” she wrote.

Mica was sentenced to a three year community corrections order with 400 hours community service and mental health treatment by Judge Fran Dalziel.

“This case highlights the level of care and attention required of drivers and the tragic consequences that can follow,” she said.

She accepted that the enormity of Ms Norman‘s death had weighed heavily on a “person of otherwise exemplary character”.

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