Launceston court: Cheyanne Logan-Radford spared jail over George Town crash that killed son
A Tasmanian woman who smoked ice before crashing her car and killing her three-year-old son wept as she learned her fate in court — as the magistrate set out a stern warning for her future.
Tasmania
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A George Town woman who smoked ice on the night she crashed her car causing the death of her three-year-old son wept as a magistrate spoke of the tragic death and her guilt and remorse.
Cheyanne Taylor Logan-Radford, 26, had set out from George Town to steal a car with a male friend Zane Mitchell Cocker when the fatal crash occurred on Bridport Rd on March 22, 2024.
She pleaded guilty in May 2025 to causing the death by negligent driving of her son Kreed Copley, to driving a motor vehicle whilst a prescribed illicit drug was present in her blood and to driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.
Magistrate Simon Brown said that she had failed to secure child safety seats properly for her two young children.
The court heard that Logan-Radford and a male friend Zane Mitchell Cocker left George Town during the evening with her two children in a Holden Barina and drove along Bridport Rd in an easterly direction.
They smoked ice [methylamphetamine] at the corner of Bridport and Beechford Roads and some time later stole a Holden Rodeo utility from a farm property.
They were driving in a westerly direction towards George Town when Logan-Radford felt drowsy and drifted into gravel before striking trees. Cocker who was driving the stolen vehicle turned around when he saw the car’s lights.
The young boy Kreed Copley was fatally injured and the four-year-old girl Amarnie was also injured.
At the sentencing hearing Magistrate Simon Brown said that Logan-Radford was unsuitable for a home detention order after being found in possession of the drug GHB and a knife and to breaching a curfew in July 2025.
He said he had real concerns about the efficacy of such an order because of Logan-Radford’s lack of stable accommodation and a continued pattern of using drugs.
She also pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a large number of other charges from March 2024 including aggravated burglary and stealing, unlicensed driving, drug possession, motor vehicle stealing and other driving charges.
“The most serious is causing death by negligent driving of your infant child by failing to secure a child seat properly,” Mr Brown said.
He accepted that Logan-Radford had suffered significantly since the crash.
“Your plea of guilty recognises that you brought about the death of your own child which has brought enormous regret and shame,” he said.
He said that the circumstances of the crash had meant her daughter was “not with you either”.
“It was put to me that those children were entirely dependent on you and your standard of driving,” he said.
“The lapse by failing to secure the seating was a very serious one.
“I also accept that you have also suffered very significantly including from the guilt, remorse and the like of being responsible for bringing about a child’s tragic death.”
He said it was concerning that she had continued to display a pattern of anti-social behaviour but acknowledged her motivation to have her child returned to her care could be a strong factor for rehabilitation.
Mr Brown sentenced her to a five-month jail term but wholly suspended it for two years on the condition that she commit no imprisonable offence.
A 12-month community correction order was also imposed along with fines totalling $1100 for driving offences including for vehicle defects in the Holden Barina.
She was disqualified from driving for a total of three years.
“I would underline to you Ms Logan-Radford that where you go next lies in your own hands,” Mr Brown said.
“A suspended sentence should be seen as a last chance and if you were to commit any further offences the starting position is that the sentence must be served.”
At a plea hearing in May crown prosecutor Andrew Gillard provided a detailed and dramatic account of the circumstances of the crash.
“The defendant was travelling 86kmh in a 100kmh zone when she started to feel drowsy and fell asleep and lost control when the car hit a gravel verge outside 6095 Bridport Rd.”
The car skidded 37 metres on gravel and then collided with a bank and a group of trees.
Mr Gillard said the children were thrust forward because the seats were not secured properly. The boy was thrown out of the seat and was propelled between the driver’s and passenger’s seat onto the dashboard.
“The impact of his upper body against the car’s dashboard and stereo caused fatal head trauma.”
The court heard that Cocker turned the stolen car around when he saw the Barina’s lights.
“Cocker removed both children from the car and placed them in the stolen utility and drove to the nearest residence at 29 Big Hill Rd, Lefroy.
He was met by resident Sean Barwick who saw Cocker holding the boy who appeared lifeless in his arms.
“Mr Barwick called an ambulance but understanding that there would be a potential delay he made the decision to drive Cocker and the children to George Town Hospital,” Mr Gillard said.
“He could not get the defendant to move because she was groaning in pain and she stayed behind in the Rodeo.”
When they arrived at the hospital there was no one present so Cocker crossed the road to the police station and knocked on the door and was met by Constable Jonathon Frankcombe.
The boy was declared deceased but the girl and the defendant were transferred to the Launceston General Hospital.
When police returned to Big Hill Road they found Cocker who had returned to the crash site.
He was arrested for motor vehicle theft.
At the LGH a blood sample returned a positive reading (0.7 milligrams per litre) for amphetamine. A search of the Barina found an ice pipe and an inspection found a number of vehicle defects.
Defence lawyer Mark Doyle said Logan-Radford accepted that her conduct resulted in the death of her son, which she was feeling as acutely as any human being would.
He said that at the time of the offence Logan-Radord was living on the street in the car with the two children.
The particulars of negligence were that she continued to drive while feeling drowsy.
Originally published as Launceston court: Cheyanne Logan-Radford spared jail over George Town crash that killed son
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