Death smash police constable Cassandra Joy Richardson launches Supreme Court appeal

A former Tasmanian police constable, who was last year found guilty of causing the road deaths of a mother and son near Richmond in 2022, has launched an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Cassandra Joy Richardson leaves court during a previous appearance. Picture: Amber Wilson

A former Tasmanian police constable, who was last year found guilty of causing the road deaths of a mother and son near Richmond in 2022, has launched a Supreme Court appeal against a conviction her lawyers have described as a “miscarriage of justice”.

Cassandra Joy Richardson, 28, has also appealed the sentence handed down by Hobart Magistrate Andrew McKee on 29 November last year, arguing that her wholly suspended six-month prison term was manifestly excessive.

Richardson was off-duty and driving home along Brinktop Rd on May 10, 2022 when she veered into the oncoming lane of 51-year-old Teresa Brown.

Forced to take evasive action, Ms Brown was killed alongside her 16-year-old son, Jim, when their car collided with a third vehicle.

After a hearing before Magistrate McKee last year in Hobart, Richardson was found guilty of two counts of causing death by negligent driving, driving without due care and attention, and driving while disqualified.

Magistrate McKee subsequently sentenced Richardson to a six-month jail term, wholly suspended on the condition that she commit no offences punishable by imprisonment for the next 12 months.

In describing the defendant’s negligence as mid-range, his Honour said Richardson had failed to have proper control of her vehicle when she crossed a continuous white line and entered the oncoming lane.

The court heard that although Richardson had not been speeding before the crash, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, the effect of her actions on the Brown family had been “catastrophic”.

But in the grounds of appeal filed with the Supreme Court, Richardson’s lawyers argue the verdicts against their client on each count were unreasonable and not able to be supported having regard to the whole of the evidence.

It is also claimed that in relation to each count “there was an error of law or mixed law and facts”, and that there had been a miscarriage of justice.

The sole ground of the appeal against Richardson’s total sentence, which included a 12-month driving disqualification, is that it was manifestly excessive “in all the circumstances”.

During sentencing submissions last year, Richardson became visibly emotional as she listened to victim impact statements delivered by members of the Brown family.

Mrs Brown’s adult daughter, Samantha, told the court of the devastation both deaths had wrought on the family unit, while son Joel Brown said he had suffered the pain of losing his mother and brother on his birthday.

Richardson’s legal team tendered 24 character references on her behalf, which reflected a person of previously impeccable reputation, and which described her actions on the day of the crash described as out of character.

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Originally published as Death smash police constable Cassandra Joy Richardson launches Supreme Court appeal