A WOMAN who accidentally ran over and killed her partner in 2012 returned to court on Monday charged again with drink driving.
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Kylie Maree Wythe, 43, of Keane Street, Koroit, pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court to drink-driving, careless driving, and driving in breach of her licence conditions.
The police prosecutor told the court that at 1.10am on February 20 this year, Wythe was driving on the Koroit-Port Fairy Road when she veered off the wrong side of the road, hitting a fence post and a large tree.
Wythe, who was the only occupant in the car, was not injured.
A passing motorist saw Wythe sitting in the driver’s seat attempting to reverse out and called police.
The court heard that upon arrival officers spoke to Wythe and found she had a .00 condition on her licence. A preliminary breath test proved positive and Wythe accompanied police back to the Warrnambool police station where an evidentiary breath test performed 100 minutes after the crash revealed Wythe had a blood alcohol reading of 0.143.
Wythe told police she drank a light beer, three piccolos of champagne, and a cowboy shot, and took a sleeping tablet before driving.
Defence counsel Amanda Chambers said she didn’t think “I’d be standing here again for Ms Wythe”.
“I acted for her in a prior matter, and it was a case that will stick with me for my career,” Ms Chambers said, referring to the 2012 death of Wythe’s partner.
Wythe pleaded guilty in the Warrnambool County Court in 2014 to culpable driving causing death and was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for two years. Wythe was drunk when she accidentally drove over her partner in an Aitkins Road driveway, killing him.
Ms Chambers said Wythe rarely drank and had little memory of the most recent incident.
“Of all people who knows the extreme (possibilities) of drink driving, she’s one of them,” Ms Chambers said, adding that Wythe was a carer for numerous people.
Ms Chambers said Wythe was receiving help from health professionals and now had a strong support network around her.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose said she was “amazed someone with a prior for culpable driving where the driving has resulted in a partner being killed is driving with a reading of 0.143”.
“You’re precisely the person we don’t want on the road,” Ms Toose said.
“You’re a risk to every road user and a risk to yourself.”
Ms Toose convicted Wythe, fined her $200, sentenced her to 120 hours community work over the next year, and cancelled her licence for 30 months.