By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A Nar Nar Goon man who killed a baby girl when he drunkenly crashed into another vehicle on Phillip Island has been jailed for at least four years and eight months.
Blake Chadwick, 25, was more than three times the blood-alcohol limit of 0.156 when he drove through a Stop sign in front of another vehicle at the Smiths Beach and Back Beach roads intersection on 17 December.
The electrician had been drinking that afternoon.
The crash occurred in daylight but he failed to see the obvious Stop sign or the preceding warnings of an approaching Stop sign.
One of his passengers, realising Chadwick was not braking, called out for him to slow down or stop.
His car collided with another vehicle driven by a man with his wife and 16-month-old daughter on board.
Chadwick pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to culpable driving causing the baby’s death as well as negligently causing serious injury to the mother.
The mother was treated for a punctured lung and fractured ribs as a result of the crash.
Chadwick and the other driver were uninjured.
Judge Paul Lacava said a major cause of the crash – and the death of a “doubtlessly beautiful” 16-month-old girl – was Chadwick’s alcohol-impaired driving.
He noted the bereaved father’s “moving” victim statement that detailed the “perfectly understandable” impact on the family.
Chadwick’s decision to drive on that occasion was “selfish in the extreme”, Judge Lacava said, and that it endangered everyone who came into his path.
There was a need to send a “clear message” to deter people from committing the “unfortunately prevalent” offence of culpable driving.
It was often committed by people of “otherwise excellent character”, he said.
So it appeared with Chadwick – who pleaded guilty, expressed genuine remorse, had no prior convictions or traffic matters and had “excellent” rehabilitation prospects, the judge stated.
The court was told that the accused had stopped drinking since the incident. He was “highly” regarded and contributed for the better of the community for most of his life.
There was no doubt that Chadwick would regret the incident for the rest of his life, he said.
Chadwick was jailed for seven years, with a non-parole period of four years, eight months.
He was fined $500 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
