A young Illawarra driver involved in a fatal crash while street racing with a mate at Windang last year has failed to avoid a full-time jail sentence.
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Jay Geoghegan fought back tears in a Wollongong District Court on Monday as Judge Andrew Haesler sentenced him to at least 17 months behind bars over the September 14 crash, which claimed the life of 18-year-old Jesse Brown.
Geoghegan’s lawyer had argued a community-based intensive corrections order would be an appropriate punishment for his client, however Judge Haesler rejected the submission given the “extreme” nature of Geoghegan’s driving at the time.
Court documents reveal the two men were seen driving their respective vehicles at high speed, weaving in and out of traffic on Windang Road moments before Mr Brown’s car ploughed into the back of a stationary delivery truck parked illegally on the roadway.
Mr Brown was killed instantly.
Geoghegan was taken to hospital for mandatory alcohol and drug testing but was cleared of any such outside factors.
Police subsequently charged him with dangerous driving occasioning death, to which he pleaded guilty.
In a moving victim impact statement read out in front of a packed courtroom on Monday, Mr Brown’s mother Cathy Davis said the loss of her son had left a “black hole” in her life.
“I feel that two people died that fateful day; my son and myself,” she said.
“I feel like Jesse is a soul with no body and I am a body with no soul.
“I am so sorry Jesse for the one time you needed me that I couldn’t protect you.”
Meantime, Geoghegan penned his own letter to the court, revealing his deep sorrow, guilty and regret over his actions.
“I have re-lived that day over and over every day since and if I could change it I would,” he wrote.
“I think about Jesse’s family every day and how they are...I wish I could take their pain away, click my fingers and give them back their son, their brother, their friend.”
In handing down the sentence, Judge Haesler found Geoghegan’s moral culpability was high given his“extreme speed” (estimated to be 130-140km/hr in the moments before the crash) and the fact he and Mr Brown were involved in a race.
“This was not a case of momentary inattention – Mr Geoghegan abandoned his responsibilities as a driver,” he said.
“A driver’s licence is a privilege. The abuse of that privilege on this day resulted in another person’s death.”
Geoghegan will be released on parole in May 2019.
He has also been disqualified from driving for three years.
