A P-PLATER who was drinking before he crashed his ute and killed his mate has been jailed for at least two years.
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Jesse Thomas Radcliffe will not be eligible for parole until 2018 after he was sentenced for causing the death of his friend, Benjamin Speering, at Caroona, on December 5, 2015.
Radcliffe pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving death of Mr Speering and fronted a sentence hearing in Tamworth District Court where two victim impact statements from Mr Speering’s family were read out.
“We had so many plans for the future that I now have to do alone … because of someone else’s actions,” one of the victim statements said.
“This is a nightmare I have to live with for the rest of my life.”
The maximum penalty for the offence is 10 years but Acting Judge Colin O’Connor imposed a maximum of three years and six months for the drunken crash, after Radcliffe recorded a blood alcohol reading in the mid-range.
As part of the crown facts tendered in court, a clinical forensic pharmacologist gave an expert opinion as to the likely range of Radcliffe’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of the collision about 2.30am.
“The lower end of that range was .132 of alcohol per 100ml of blood. At this level of intoxication there would have been very significant impairment of driving skills including very significant impairment of reaction skills, lane-keeping ability perceptions and decision-making,” facts stated.
Radcliffe had been drinking with Mr Speering and two other friends when they left a local hotel in Spring Ridge and went to a friend’s house for more drinks.
When they decided to return to Quirindi at about 2am, one of Radcliffe’s friends said he wasn’t going back with him because “he’s too pissed”, according to facts.
“The deceased said words similar to, ‘No someone has to go back in with Jesse, he is a good driver when he is drunk,” facts state.
Mr Speering got into the passenger seat of the Mazda utility and the pair left Spring Ridge, while other friends followed in another car.
A witness later told investigators the vehicle was travelling at about 100km/h in a 60 zone when they passed through Caroona.
Radcliffe failed to negotiate a sweeping bend at speed and lost control, rolling the ute before it struck a large gum tree.
The impact of the crash pinned Mr Speering underneath and despite efforts by Radcliffe and friends to help lift the vehicle off the 20-year-old, he died at the scene.
Police were alerted and Radcliffe was arrested and later recorded a blood alcohol reading of .106 when tested in Tamworth.
He was charged a week later by crash investigators.
In court, Acting Judge O’Connor also fined Radcliffe $600 for mid-range drink driving and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.