Unlicensed driver Storm Cecilia Tientjes sentenced after admitting Good Friday fatality

A young Tasmanian woman who caused the death of a newly-wed tourist from Queensland has been sentenced in the Supreme Court.

Tasmanian woman Storm Cecilia Tientjes has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a female tourist last year by dangerous driving

A young Tasmanian woman has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for causing the death of an interstate tourist in a Good Friday road smash at Copping last year.

Storm Cecilia Tientjes, now 28, was driving high on drugs and heavily fatigued when her car veered onto the wrong side of the Arthur Highway and crashed into a hired MG hatchback being driven by a newlywed Queensland couple.

Shadari Athrey, 29, was on a sight-seeing visit around Tasmania with her husband when she was killed in the 7 April collision.

Although Mrs Athrey was wearing a seatbelt, she was ejected from her vehicle and died at the scene.

Queensland tourist Shadari Athrey who was killed in a Good Friday crash at Copping in 2023. Picture: LinkedIn

Tientjes, who has never held a drivers licence, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Mrs Athrey’s death in May this year, after earlier indicating she planned to take the matter to trial.

Tientjes appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Wednesday before Justice Helen Wood, who said the crime had had a devastating impact on Mrs Athrey’s husband, with the couple having been married for just a year.

The court heard the defendant had driven from Hobart to Dunalley the day before the fatal crash to investigate the prospect of work on a fishing boat.

After spending the night on the vessel, but not sleeping due to a shortage of beds, a drug-affected and fatigued Tientjes made the fateful decision to drive home the following morning.

A waterfront bystander said the defendant had glazed eyes and appeared “zoned out” as she haphazardly reversed her vehicle along a jetty.

Tasmanian woman Storm Cecilia Tientjes has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a female tourist last year by dangerous driving. Picture: Facebook

Ignoring pleas from her passenger to not drive, Tientjes filmed herself on social media smoking a bong and fishtailing her Toyota along a section of gravel, before continuing the journey to Gagebrook.

Justice Wood said that 600m west of the Carlton River bridge, the Toyota fully entered the opposite lane, and collided with the oncoming MG which spun 180 degrees before rolling into a ditch.

Mrs Athrey was ejected from her car suffering multiple severe blunt force injuries, and died within moments of the collision.

Justice Wood said airbag data from the Toyota, which suggested the vehicle’s brakes had not been applied before the collision, were consistent with Tientjes’s account to police that she fell asleep at the wheel and did not remember the moment of impact.

The court heard the defendant’s crime included a number of aggravating factors, including that she was unlicensed, fatigued, had consumed both ice and cannabis, and had ignored warnings not to drive.

“Ms Tientjes represented an ever-present risk … for every moment she was behind the wheel,” Justice Wood said.

“She was a danger to her passengers, and anyone else on the highway.

“Her degree of culpability is significant.”

The scene of a fatal road crash at Copping. Picture: Linda Higginson

However, Justice Wood acknowledged Tientjes had shown genuine remorse for her actions, and had strong prospects for rehabilitation despite having very little guidance in her formative years.

Tientjes’s sentence was backdated to 1 November last year, to take into account her time in custody, with an order to serve 21 months before being eligible for parole.

The defendant was also disqualified from driving for four and a half years.

EARLIER: A young Tasmanian woman who admitted causing the death of a tourist in a Good Friday road smash at Copping last year will learn her fate in the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning.

Storm Cecilia Tientjes, now 28, was unlicensed and high on drugs when she fell asleep at the wheel of her car and veered onto the wrong side of the Arthur Hwy, crashing into a hired MG being driven by a married tourist couple.

Shadari Athrey, 29, who was on a sightseeing journey around Tasmania with her husband, was killed in the 7 April collision.

Tasmanian woman Storm Cecilia Tientjes has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a female tourist last year by dangerous driving. Picture: Instagram

Although Mrs Athrey was wearing a seatbelt, she was ejected from her vehicle and died at the scene.

In May this year, Tientjes pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Mrs Athrey’s death, after initially indicating she planned to take the matter to trial.

Tientjes appeared in the Supreme Court in Hobart on Tuesday afternoon, when prosecution and defence counsel discussed final sentencing submissions with Justice Helen Wood.

The court had previously heard that during Tientjes’s journey from Dunalley to Hobart, she briefly stopped to film herself on Snapchat smoking a bong, and later filmed herself while fishtailing the car along the Arthur Hwy.

Defence lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi told a previous plea hearing that Tientjes was at one stage using a gram of ice a day “as a vice to escape her traumatic past”, and had undergone rehabilitation during her time in custody.

“I cannot take back anything as much as I wish I could with every fibre of my being,” Tientjes said in a statement tendered to the court.

“I am genuinely remorseful for the suffering I have caused.”

Justice Wood remanded Tientjes in custody for sentence at 9.30am on Wednesday.

Originally published as Unlicensed driver Storm Cecilia Tientjes sentenced after admitting Good Friday fatality