A Canberra P-plater who struck and killed a cyclist while driving an unregistered, unroadworthy, and uninsured vehicle has been sentenced to three years in jail. Ronan Jason Grey, 20, pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death in the ACT Supreme Court.
The crash occurred on Lady Denman Drive last year, when Grey lost control of his car after illegally overtaking another vehicle and hit cyclist Alicia Jauregui. The 36-year-old Uruguayan tennis coach had been in Australia for only a few weeks.
Acting Justice Paul Slattery noted the 'immense, impossible-to-fill void' left by Ms Jauregui's death, but also acknowledged Grey's remorse expressed in a letter to the court. 'You accept you have deprived the world of an exceptional woman,' the judge said.
The court heard that Grey's car had failed a registration test due to needed repairs, including bald tyres, and was unregistered, uninsured, and unroadworthy at the time. Grey had also recently crashed his first car. On the day of the incident, he was driving while emotionally upset to deliver a letter to an estranged friend.
Grey's sentence will be suspended after 15 months, followed by a three-year good behaviour order under supervision. He has been in custody since August, when he requested his bail be revoked after a sentencing hearing.
