Magistrate Susan McGowan was momentarily speechless after reading the police account of how a drunk and texting P-plate driver sped off after running down a woman outside a Wollongong nightspot.
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Then she found her voice.
"It's frightening to be honest and dangerous in the extreme," a clearly exasperated Ms McGowan said in Port Kembla Local Court on Tuesday as she recounted the facts surrounding Nicole Johnson's crime.
"This type of conduct ... using a mobile phone is bad enough but having a mid-range alcohol reading when you're not supposed to have any [alcohol] at all, then driving dangerously ... I'm momentarily speechless."
The court heard Johnson, a green P-plater, had been turning right from Burelli Street into Keira Street just before 2am on August 24 when she hit a woman who had stepped onto the road without looking.
The impact shattered the windscreen of her Nissan Micra and threw the woman into the air.
Johnson, 22, sped away from the scene, drawing the attention of police as she travelled west along Crown Street at up to 80km/h and ran a number of red lights.
A number of witnesses to the hit-and-run gave chase, pointing police towards the car.
The young Helensburgh woman pulled over in Railway Parade and was breath-tested by police, returning a positive reading. She was taken into police custody for drink-driving and leaving the scene of a crash.
A further breath analysis revealed she had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.128. The victim suffered minor injuries.
Johnson pleaded guilty at an earlier court date to several offences including negligent and dangerous driving, drink-driving, using a mobile phone and failing to stop and assist after the crash.
Her lawyer, Adam Barnes, initially asked the court to consider a bond for his client, saying she had had a momentary lapse in judgment and had "panicked" in leaving the scene.
However, Ms McGowan refused, saying a message needed to be sent to the community about the consequences of such actions.
"These inexperienced drivers who go out on the town drinking and decide to drive home ... it's lucky for all concerned the pedestrian wasn't more seriously injured," she said.
Johnson was handed a 12-month suspended prison sentence, fined $1150 and ordered to perform 150 hours of community service as punishment.
