The drug-driver who killed a respected Canberra disability advocate has been sentenced to time behind bars after again taking methamphetamine and getting behind the wheel.
The "catastrophic" death of Sue Salthouse meant Mitchell Ryan Laidlaw was "well and truly on notice" about what might happen if he drove after consuming drugs again, magistrate Louise Taylor remarked on Monday.
Ms Taylor said that in the ACT Magistrates Court as she sentenced Laidlaw to 10 days in jail, fined him $1035, disqualified him from driving for 15 months, and imposed two 12-month good behaviour orders.
Laidlaw, 35, had just pleaded guilty to two counts of driving while disqualified, as well as single charges of drug-driving, driving a vehicle with suspended registration, and using number plates properly issued to another vehicle.
The Evatt man committed those offences on June 23 and July 9, while he was on bail waiting to be sentenced over a Commonwealth Avenue crash that killed Ms Salthouse in July 2020.
Laidlaw also had methamphetamine in his system at the time of that incident, over which he has pleaded guilty to charges of drug-driving and culpable driving causing death.
He was due to be sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court over Ms Salthouse's death last Friday, only for Chief Justice Lucy McCallum to delay that case because of the "staggering" new charges before the Magistrates Court.
When the new charges were brought forward to be finalised on Monday, defence barrister Keegan Lee said Laidlaw had spent the 10 days since his most recent arrest in custody.
"I'm instructed that's been a very difficult period," Mr Lee said.
"It has been a wake-up call for him."
Mr Lee told Ms Taylor that Laidlaw had been abstinent from methamphetamine for about 10 years before "unfortunately" recommencing "sporadic" use of the drug just prior to the death of Ms Salthouse.
He said Laidlaw's relapse had occurred as a result of the 35-year-old seeking to relieve the stress of working "a huge number of hours" - sometimes 100 per week - in the lead-up to the fatal crash.
Mr Lee said Laidlaw conceded his return to drug use was "problematic", but the Evatt resident clearly had the capacity to be a productive member of the community again once he was "back on top of it".
He said the focus now should be on Laidlaw's rehabilitation, citing comments Chief Justice McCallum made last Friday when she said the man was "exactly the type of person" the justice system could help.
While Mr Lee said lengthy good behaviour orders would be appropriate penalties for the most recent crimes, prosecutor Sam Bargwanna argued the new drug-driving charge should attract a jail sentence.
Mr Bargwanna said while the prosecution had accepted Ms Salthouse's death was the result of Laidlaw's "momentary inattention", rather than the methamphetamine in his system, that incident meant the 35-year-old knew of the need for drivers "to maintain the highest levels of attention at all times".
"Mr Laidlaw was on notice that he should not have been doing this," he said of the June 23 drug-driving.
Ms Taylor agreed Laidlaw knew the risks that came with drug-driving as she found a jail term was appropriate for the most recent offence of that kind, sentencing the 35-year-old to time already served on remand.
She noted that while the death of Ms Salthouse might have "shocked" some out of using illicit drugs, Laidlaw's use seemed to have instead become "entrenched" as some sort of mechanism to cope with stress.
While Laidlaw has already served his 10-day jail term, he will remain behind bars for the time being because Chief Justice McCallum last week revoked his bail in relation to the charges linked to Ms Salthouse's death.
He is due to return to the Supreme Court in respect of those on July 29, with the process of assessing his eligibility for a drug and alcohol treatment order already under way.
