Lazarus Paul Seden jailed for serious crashes in stolen cars on meth

A young driver sped away in a stolen vehicle from a serious crash, before stealing another and crashing head on into a couple while on meth just hours later – leaving three people with grievous injuries.

A then-19-year-old driver sped away in a stolen vehicle from a serious crash, before stealing another and crashing head on into a couple while on meth just hours later - leaving three people with grevious injuries.

A young car thief has been described as “unutterably selfish and reprehensible” for a spree of offending that left three people in hospital and with life-changing damage.

Wendy Kruske, 75, was on her way to church at 6.38am on November 20, 2022 when Lazarus Paul Seden smashed into the back of her Suzuki in a stolen Prado at the intersection of Bruce Highway and Sams Rd at Mount Pleasant.

Mackay District Court heard the teen had broken into an Andergrove residence and stolen the keys at 6am before fleeing the crash, ditching the car in a paddock, and breaking into a West Mackay property about 8am to steal an Isuzu wagon.

Seden was then speeding away from police who had spotted the stolen car about 2pm and crossing double lines when he crashed head on into Consilo and Dingena Bartolo’s Mitsubishi on the Bruce Highway near Farleigh.

Lazarus Paul Seden. Picture: Facebook

Crown prosecutor Matthew Sutton said the offending “would accurately be described as a 10 hour spree” that only came to an end when Seden had to be extracted from the wrecked Isuzu and arrested.

The court heard Ms Kruske and Mr Bartolo suffered life-threatening injuries as well as serious ongoing health issues, with Ms Bartolo also suffering multiple fractures.

Mr Sutton said Seden, now 21, had a nine-page criminal history that was longer than adult “court regulars”, with 14 instances of driving or being a passenger in stolen cars.

A 75-year-old Blacks Beach woman was serious injured in a crash at the Bruce Highway and Sams Rd intersection at Mount Pleasant about 6.30am on November 11, 2022. Picture: Facebook

Mr Sutton said the “horrendously violent” hit and run left Ms Kruske’s daughter in the horrific situation of discussing with the doctor whether her mother would be resuscitated if things worsened.

Seden was also taken to hospital, the court heard, where a blood test found he had methamphetamines in his system.

“His offending has affected each of the complainants devastatingly (and) strikes at the heart of the community,” Mr Sutton said.

Defence barrister Scott McLennan said though “drug-fuelled” at the time, Seden was now “clear headed” and had instructed he was sorry for the injuries he had caused.

The Bruce Highway was closed at Farleigh following a two car crash involving the driver allegedly linked to a serious crash at Mount Pleasant earlier that day. Picture: Janessa Ekert

Seden pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm and leaving the incident, two counts of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm while affected by meth, two counts of burglary and stealing, an enter premises, and two counts of unlawful use of a motor vehicle.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren said the photograph of Ms Kruske’s car was “quite frankly horrific” and “I can’t believe she survived it”.

“No sentence can change the heartache you have caused these three victims and their loved ones,” Judge Rosengren said.

“You committed these offences on parole (and) your traffic and criminal history shows (that) these were not accidents, they were incidents that did not have to happen.”

Seden had served a total of 464 days in total, but since a majority of that time was served for previous suspended sentences Judge Rosengren declared only 41 days as time served on his sentence.

Seden was sentenced to a head sentence of six years imprisonment, with a parole eligibility date set at July 19, 2025.

Originally published as Lazarus Paul Seden jailed for serious crashes in stolen cars on meth