A DRUNK driver who injured two people, one severely, in a crash east of Gawler in 2018 will spend at least a year in prison.
Glen James Martin, 31, faced the Adelaide District Court on Friday after pleading guilty to aggravated causing serious harm by dangerous driving and aggravated causing harm by dangerous driving relating to an accident on Williamstown Road, near Williamstown, September 8, 2018.
The court heard Martin was driving towards Williamstown on the 100km/h limit road with a passenger when he veered onto the wrong side of the road and hit a Nissan Micra sedan and caused it to spin out of control.
His car then continued down the road and hit another car, but the occupant escaped without injury.
After the accident, Martin returned a blood-alcohol reading of 0.152, more than three-times the legal limit, which Judge Barry Beazley noted may have been exacerbated by the medical treatment he received after the incident.
According to Judge Beazley, Martin told police he had consumed half a bottle of whisky during the day and was drinking vodka cruisers while he was driving.
Martin was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for the crash, and given a “very low” non-parole period of one year.
He was also disqualified from holding a drivers licence for 10 years.
Judge Beazley said Martin’s poor mental health history led him to set the short non-parole period.
“I have no doubt that at the time of the collision your life was in turmoil,” he said.
“You were suffering from depression following the death of your second child.
“As to the testimonials, your mother referred to the longstanding depression and said that finally you are receiving appropriate medication. She knows that you relive the collision.”
The occupants of the Nissan Micra sedan first struck during the incident, husband and wife Loraine and Peter Terrison, were both injured during the crash – Mrs Terrison severely.
She was trapped in the vehicle and suffered bleeding over the surface of her brain, a high neck vertebra fracture and three fractured lumbar vertebrae, multiple rip fractures and a significant thighbone fracture – which required surgery.
Mr Terrison suffered two fractured ribs, a fractured breastbone, significant bruising and a minor collapse at the base of both lungs due to being trapped in a “difficult” position and the fact he “couldn’t take normal breaths because of the pain”.
Judge Beazley said the Terrisons were “angry” at their change of life after the accident.
“Mrs Terrison explained that for the first six months following the collision she could not weight bear on her leg, had to effectively hop to and from the bathroom until a wheelchair became available,” he said.
“The operation to her leg involved the insertion of a long metal plate to re-join what was left of the end of her femur leaving the right leg 30mm shorter than the left.
“She no longer drives and this has led to social isolation in the country.
“Mr Terrison has recovered from his injuries but devotes himself to doing all of his wife's previous tasks.
“Both are, as you could imagine, angry about their change in life and, in particular, their loss of freedom and their previous activities.”
Martin fractured both ankles, multiple ribs and his pelvis in the crash.