Lockyer Valley woman Kirsten Anthony admits to negligent driving after fatal crash into friend Hayden Selby

A southern Queensland woman has admitted her negligent driving caused the fatal crash which claimed the life of her friend and father of 11 Hayden Selby in the Illawarra.

Queensland woman Kirsten Anthony outside Wollongong Local Court earlier this year. Picture: Dylan Arvela

A southern Queensland woman has admitted her negligent driving caused the fatal crash which claimed the life of her friend and father of 11 Hayden Selby in the Illawarra.

Kirsten Anthony, from Plainland near Toowoomba, was driving a Toyota Kluger on the M1 Motorway about 4pm on Friday, July 19, when she collided with Mr Selby who was riding a motorbike in front of her.

The 25-year-old woman had pleaded not guilty to negligent driving occasioning death, however, she changed her plea in Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday.

Documents tendered in court state the pair were close to the New Mount Pleasant Rd overpass when the incident occurred in the midst of heavy peak-hour traffic.

Mr Selby, 31, applied the brakes and attempted to veer into the second southbound lane and Anthony, who was towing a trailer, was too slow to react to the sudden change, hitting the back of the bike and driving over the top of her friend.

Hayden Errol Frank Selby was 31 at the time of his death.

Documents state Mr Selby was pronounced dead when emergency services arrived at the scene a short time later.

Anthony was arrested and underwent mandatory testing. She told police the cars in front of her “braked suddenly” and the vehicle she was driving, which she was unfamiliar with, was “pulling forward a lot” on the downhill motorway.

Kirsten Anthony will be sentenced in 2025. Picture: Dylan Arvela

During a successful bail application the day after the crash, Registrar Angela Wilson described the situation as “very tragic”.

Ms Wilson granted bail on the condition Anthony report to police daily, enter a mental health care plan on the instruction of the doctor, deposit $500 surety and not occupy the driver’s seat of a motor vehicle.

Speaking with this publication in the wake of the crash, Mr Selby’s partner Katie Powell described him as a “protector” who would go above and beyond for the people in his life.

“Hayden was a protector to everyone he cared for. He was my rock and my 11 children’s hero,” Ms Powell said.

“We met in 2014 through mutual friends and we have been inseparable ever since, I found my soulmate the day I met him.”

Anthony will be sentenced in February.

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Originally published as Lockyer Valley woman Kirsten Anthony admits to negligent driving after fatal crash into friend Hayden Selby