A "selfish" drunk driver who killed his wife in a car crash just 500 metres from their Brisbane home will spend six months in jail.
Ferenc Farkas was sentenced on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death whilst adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.
The 61-year-old also pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence.
A sentencing hearing in the Brisbane District Court heard in October 2021, Farkas and his wife Donna had been drinking at their Tingalpa home when he offered to take her to purchase cigarettes from a nearby service station.
The couple, who had been married for 30 years, had not been in the car for long when Farkas drove through a T-intersection before crashing into a tree, the court heard.
Mrs Farkas, 55, suffered critical injuries and was taken to hospital where she later died.
Before the collision, the court heard witnesses had seen the car speeding through the 40 kilometres per hour residential area, and driving directly over traffic-calming islands instead of slowing down.
The court heard at the scene, Farkas returned a high-range blood alcohol reading of more than 0.19 per cent.
Crown Prosecutor Alexandra Baker told the court Farkas "made the deliberate and selfish decision to get behind the wheel" and his reckless behaviour had "catastrophic" consequences.
"His conduct has taken a life," she said.
Farkas 'mentally scarred for the rest of his life'
Defence lawyer Matthew Jackson told the court Farkas had a longstanding "problematic relationship" with alcohol and on the day of the crash his significant consumption had impaired his decision-making process.
"It's not an excuse, but it's an explanation," he said.
Mr Jackson told the court his client had been sober ever since and has continued to suffer "the almost unquantifiable regret" of his actions which has left him "mentally scarred for the rest of his life".
"There can be no doubt that in the last 18 months, he has been severely punished," he said.
When handing down her sentence, Judge Nicole Kefford accepted Farkas's offending "weighs heavily on your conscience" and that he had shown "extreme remorse".
"That is a significant mitigating factor," she said.
Farkas was sentenced to five years in jail, to be suspended after he serves six months in custody.
He was also disqualified from driving for at least 18 months.
Farkas, who was on bail, was taken into custody from the dock.
