Sonya Wiffen appeals jail sentence for crash that killed Humpty Doo mum Sally Steers

Justice Jenny Blokland ruled there was an understandable sense among drivers of ‘there but for the grace of God go I’ but the law ‘puts a premium on human life’.

Sonya Wiffen has been granted leave to appeal her five-year driving ban after causing a fatal crash on the Arnhem Hwy in 2021.

Banning a woman who caused a crash that killed Humpty Doo mum Sally Steers in 2021 from the road for five years could “induce a sense of hopelessness”, a court has ruled.

Sonya Wiffen was sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended after four months, after she was found guilty by a Supreme Court jury in June of dangerous driving causing death.

Ms Wiffen’s lawyer, John Lawrence SC, had argued she should have only been required to serve a period of home detention, rather than actual imprisonment, and sought leave to appeal her sentence.

Mr Lawrence argued sentencing judge Anthony Graham’s observations there was “little or no” moral culpability and it was a case of “momentarily casual lack of attention” were at odds with his finding that there “must” be a term of actual imprisonment.

But appeal judge Jenny Blokland ruled Justice Graham’s comments did “not mean he ignored all of the other sentencing considerations”.

“It is patently clear from the remarks that notwithstanding the relatively lower level form of dangerous driving and the personal circumstances which invoke considerable sympathy, the consequence of causing death after such driving led to the conclusion that the applicant should serve at least a modest portion of the inevitable prison term,” she said.

“While it is the case … that her moral culpability was low, that she had an excellent personal character and history, she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and that there would be some hardship occasioned to immediate family members, those factors were carefully considered by the judge.”

Humpty Doo mother Sally Steers died in a tragic car crash just metres away from her partner's property in May, 2021.

Justice Blokland found that while the subjective features were “substantial”, Justice Graham was “required, to give considerable weight to the consequences of the dangerous driving and the impact on the victim’s family”.

“There is an understandable sense among drivers of ‘There but for the grace of God go I’, because almost every driver would have, at some stage in their driving history, lost concentration or failed to keep a proper look out or breached traffic regulations in some way,” she said.

“When that failure results in death or serious injury, the gravity of the offending is elevated.”

But in rejecting four of the five grounds of appeal, Justice Blokland granted leave to appeal Wiffen’s five-year licence disqualification.

“Given the applicant’s residence in outer Darwin, her employment and care responsibilities, it is reasonably arguable that the disqualification of five years would induce a ‘sense of hopelessness’,” she said.

“The disqualification period will be in full operation when the applicant is released from prison, a disruptive time in her life when she will no doubt be attempting to rebuild her life.”