Australian driver given home detention after motorcyclist's death
In Darwin, Australia, a court sentenced Stephanie Akehurst to two months of home detention and 180 hours of community service in a fatal road crash case in which 56-year-old motorcyclist Anthony Hobden died. The woman was also ordered to pay $7,770 in compensation to his family, wear an electronic monitoring bracelet and continue psychological treatment, ABC News Australia reports.
Crash circumstances
In July, Akehurst pleaded guilty to careless driving, failing to give way and driving a vehicle while a drug was present in her body. The crash occurred during the day in Palmerston in 2024. The road was dry, and the then-28-year-old driver was travelling north on Chung Wah Terrace at a speed of 30 kilometres per hour.
Judge Stephen Ledeck said that Akehurst failed to give way to Hobden, who was riding his motorcycle home from work, while making a right turn. After the collision, the man was thrown into the air and died at the scene.
According to the judge, the driver was not speeding, was not severely intoxicated and had no criminal record. Ledeck described the crash as the result of a brief moment of careless inattention.
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Family reaction and test results
The deceased man's partner, Gabrielle Johnson, said she was disappointed with the sentence and considered it insufficient. Hobden's family had asked for Akehurst to be sentenced to imprisonment.
According to facts agreed in court, Akehurst admitted that she had smoked cannabis on the evening before the collision. Roadside drug and alcohol tests returned negative results, but a subsequent blood analysis found a small amount of cannabis. Prosecutors said this had a minor adverse effect on her driving.
Hobden's blood also contained a cannabis concentration approximately three times higher, but there was no evidence that this affected the crash. In a letter to the family, Akehurst expressed deep regret over the consequences of her mistake.
