By Chalpat Sonti
A man who killed a police officer after driving his car into him has been sentenced to eight years jail.
Christopher Debroy Summers, 34, had earlier been found guilty of the manslaughter of Constable Damien Murphy in Craigie in February last year.
Summers, an unlicensed driver who had stormed out of home after an argument with his wife, crashed his Holden Commodore into Constable Murphy on Whitfords Avenue as the latter tried to get him to pull over.
The exact speed at the moment of impact was never established, but was believed to be at least 80 kmh.
Constable Murphy had initially been called to the area to attend another domestic incident. He saw Summers driving erratically and tried to wave him down using a torch. However, as he tried to get to the safety of a median barrier, he was hit by Summers' car.
Defence lawyer Mark Trowell said Constable Murphy had contributed to the crash by not being easily visible. He was not wearing flourescent clothing, and a police car, parked nearby, did not have its lights flashing.
But Judge Christopher Stevenson, in passing sentence in the Perth District Court today, said Summers had shown little remorse and a "flagrant disregard for the safety of others".
"It seems your way of coping is by blaming the actions of Constable Murphy," Judge Stevenson told Summers, who broke down in tears several times as details of the incident were read out in court.
Summers' licence had been suspended in May 2006 and he had not then renewed it.
Judge Stevenson said the offence was made worse by the fact Constable Murphy was a serving police officer carrying out his duty.
"The death of Constable Murphy was tragic and pointless," Judge Stevenson said.
While Constable Murphy's family and friends had to face up to life without him, the wider community also suffered "because Damien Murphy had dedicated his life to serving the community as a police officer".
A spokesman for police and the Murphy family said the death had left two families grieving.
"We've lost a good police officer," he said.
Summers' mother, Anne Summers, said her family felt the sentence showed "no compassion".
"There were two young people who contributed to this accident. The bottom line is that we believe in our son's truth," she said.
The family had been saddened by what happened and had been praying for Constable Murphy's family ever since his death.
Summers, who was given an automatic discount of one-third of his sentence under the truth-in-sentencing laws, will be eligible for parole after six years.