A South Australian mother of two has been sentenced to prison after crashing a speedboat into a swimmer while intoxicated. Amy Lohf, 44, was operating the boat on Australia Day 2025 at Mannum in the Murraylands when she struck a young female swimmer, dragging her into the propeller.
The court heard Lohf had consumed four bottles of champagne with three friends before getting behind the wheel. Her blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the crash. Prosecutors stated she entered the boat “seemingly without a care in the world.”
The victim suffered catastrophic injuries from the propeller, and the court described it as a miracle she survived. Lohf pleaded guilty to causing serious harm by dangerous driving. The judge noted she accelerated in an area with swimmers nearby, had to be told to stop, and was unaware of what she had done, behavior that “underlines the state of her intoxication.”
On Friday, the judge sentenced Lohf to two years, eight months, and 13 days in prison, with a non-parole period of one year and four months. He ruled the offense was too serious for home detention or a suspended sentence. The court heard Lohf is genuinely remorseful but has been ostracized by the Mannum community and now avoids public places, effectively confined to her home.
Lohf will be eligible to apply for parole in September 2026.
