|
This article has been submitted for speedy deletion according to the Criteria for speedy deletion.The reason given was:Author request (CSD A7) If you think this deletion is unwarranted, or have fixed the problem outlined above, please leave a note on the talk page. |
| This article has been submitted for speedy deletion according to the Criteria for speedy deletion.The reason given was:Author request (CSD A7) If you think this deletion is unwarranted, or have fixed the problem outlined above, please leave a note on the talk page. |
Friday, February 17, 2023
|
This article has been assessed not ready for publication.Please see the review comments on the collaboration page. When these things have been done, and the article is ready to be reviewed and fact-checked, submit it for review?Template:Assistant:Submit/formSubmit for review by changing the |
| This article has been assessed not ready for publication.
Please see the review comments on the collaboration page. When these things have been done, and the article is ready to be reviewed and fact-checked, submit it for review?Template:Assistant:Submit/formSubmit for review by changing the |
A man who crashed his car while drunk and high, leaving two passengers with serious injuries, was handed a suspended sentence at the Supreme Court of Tasmania on Wednesday.
Liam Geoffrey Murray-Bell, of Grove, was 18-years-old at the time of the crash. The then-teenager had been out drinking with a friend in Hobart on July 18, 2020. It was there that he met a 19-year-old woman, who joined him and his friend.
The three walked to Murray-Bell’s Holden Commodore utility, purchasing alcohol along the way, which they drank inside. Some time after midnight, they decided to return to Huon Valley. The car had only two seats and neither passenger wore a seat belt.
At about 1:05 a.m. that morning, Murray-Bell lost control of the car along Huon Road in Fern Tree. The vehicle slid down an embankment, hitting several trees, before coming to a stop across the centre of the road.
The 19-year-old woman was thrown through the windscreen and ended up on the bonnet. She suffered a concussion, two fractures of the pelvis, four broken ribs, a broken collarbone, bruising to the liver and the spleen, a small collapse of the left lung, and bilateral lung contusions.
The other passenger, 18, broke his left wrist, which was surgically repaired with the insertion of a metal plate. The plate will likely never be removed.
Murray-Bell, who was uninjured, had a blood alcohol content of 0.107, over twice the legal limit. A blood test revealed the prescence of MDMA.
Murray-Bell, now aged 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of causing grievous bodily harm by dangerous driving. He also admitted summary offences of driving a motor vehicle while exceeding the prescribed alcohol limit, driving a motor vehicle whilst a prescribed illicit drug was present in his blood, possessing cannabis, and driving with alcohol in his body whilst the holder of a provisional licence.
Sentencing the 21-year-old to nine months imprisonment, suspended for two years, Justice Alan Blow described his dangerous driving as “out of character”.
“He was in the habit of travelling by Uber or arranging for someone else to be a designated driver if he was intending to go out and drink. He succumbed to the suggestion of having a drink.”
“He remained at the scene of the accident, phoned for an ambulance, and did what he could to help Ms Monty and Mr Williams.”
Justice Blow accepted that Murray-Bell was “terribly upset about the consequences of his conduct” and had inquired about the well-being of his two passengers.
“Ordinarily a crime of this nature, involving alcohol, drugs and serious injuries, would be punished by a significant period of imprisonment.” the judge said.
“Because of Mr Murray-Bell’s general good character, his remorse, his pleas of guilty, the fact that he was only 18 at the time, and the short duration of his dangerous driving, I do not consider it necessary to send him to prison.”
As part of his suspended sentence, Murray-Bell was ordered to perform 175 hours of community service. He was also disqualified from driving for two years.