Jessica Glennie: Judge questions key factor in case of mum who killed best friend in car crash

A judge has raised a serious question in the case of a mother who killed her best friend in a horrific car crash.

A judge has questioned the level of “dangerousness” with which a 24-year-old Victorian woman was driving in the moments before she killed her best friend in a car crash.

Jessica Glennie appeared before the Victorian County Court on Thursday, surrounded by her supporters, as she stared at the ground for the majority of the sentencing hearing.

The mother of one donned a black cardigan and a white claw clip as she sat behind her defence lawyer Naomi Smith, who told the court that Glennie would continue to suffer pain for the “foreseeable future” as a result of the crash.

Jessica Glennie killed her best friend in a car crash in 2021. Picture: NCA NewsWre / Nicki Connolly

The mother was joined in court by her supporters. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

On September 24, 2021, Glennie lost control of her Holden Ute and crashed her car into a concrete power pole on Plumpton Rd in Diggers Rest, about 40km west of Melbourne.

Her best friend and passenger at the time, Janelle Noonan-Long, 22, was crushed and trapped by the roof of the car and pronounced dead at the scene.

Ms Glennie pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving causing death in June 2023, but on Thursday, Judge Peter Lauristen queried just how “dangerous” the women’s driving was.

“The matter that troubled me … is how dangerous was this driving?” Judge Lauristen said.

The court was told Glennie was driving at speeds estimated to be between 55 to 61km/h in a 100km/h zone and was driving along a straight road when the crash occurred.

Janelle Noonan-Long was killed in the crash. 

Ms Noonan-Long (right) was pronounced dead at the scene.

CCTV footage also captured the mother drinking a shot of alcohol less than an hour before the incident, but Glennie’s blood-alcohol concentration and the adverse effects of alcohol on her driving could not be established.

“I accept that there’s little evidence of the effect of the blood-alcohol concentration, but there is a period of driving in that state and that has culminated in the inattention at that particular time that caused this accident,” prosecutor Lauren Gurry said

“The prosecution’s case is that there’s been more than momentary inattention and failure of control of the vehicle.

“There is no evidence as to the precise impact on her ability to control the motor vehicle.”

Glennie was driving under the influence of cannabis while on a suspended probationary licence, which when valid requires the driver to have a blood-alcohol level of zero.

But Judge Lauristen said in the circumstances of the case, “the level of dangerousness is low”.

The proceedings were adjourned until Friday after Judge Lauristen ordered Glennie to undertake a community corrections order assessment.

He said the findings of the assessment would only “assist” him in the “tentative views” he had already formed about sentencing.
The hearing was adjourned to Friday.

Originally published as Jessica Glennie: Judge questions key factor in case of mum who killed best friend in car crash