A court heard that a convicted Sunshine Coast drug trafficker had lethal levels of methamphetamines in her system when she crashed into a B-double at speed, killing the 62-year-old driver.
Gold coast linehaul truckie Shane Morse, 62, was behind the wheel of an Australia Post truck hauling two trailers of mail when tragedy struck.
At about 4.30am on June 21, 2022, Jennifer Joan Turner, 41, crashed head-on into the prime mover on the Church Hill Creek Bridge, 20km north of Marlborough, causing it to roll and burst into flames.
The court heard she was travelling in a hired Ford Ranger when she crossed double white lines at speeds of over 160km.h.
Crown prosecutor Melissa Wilson said a sample of Turner’s blood was taken 4.5 hours after the crash. She was also wearing a leg brace at the time, due to a previous knee injury.
Wilson revealed that the Ranger’s GPS showed Turner had been driving recklessly prior to the crash – hitting speeds of 150-176km/h 69 times in the 73 minutes leading up to the crash.
While the truck she hit veered off the road, the Ranger remained on the road, where it was hit by another truck after the occupants exited the vehicle.
Turner was previously convicted of two counts of trafficking drugs in the Brisbane Supreme Court in July 2017. She was also on parole for possessing a commercial quantity of drugs.
In addition, there were 16 speeding offences and two drug driving convictions on her driving record.
According to judge Jeff Clarke, Turner’s driving history showed she hadn’t been a responsible driver for the past 20 years.
He added that her leg brace would have also “severely hampered her ability to safely control the car”.
Turner pleaded guilty to one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while intoxicated by meth and excessively speeding, drug driving and contravening police direction.
She was sentenced to 10 years prison and must serve eight years before being eligible for parole.