A motorist was high on a cocktail of drugs and alcohol and driving at almost 100 kilometres per hour over the speed limit when he smashed into a car in WA's Mid-West, killing a couple turning into their driveway, the WA Supreme Court has been told.
Khel Robert Steel, 24, pleaded guilty to killing Lindsay and Valerie Baskerville, who were prominent members of the Port Denison/Dongara community, about 350 kilometres from Perth.
He was sentenced in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to nine years in prison, and will have to serve seven before he is eligible for parole.
He will also be banned from driving for two years, a ban that will start only after he is released from prison.
The accident happened on the evening of Friday, March 4 last year, when Mrs Baskerville, 84, who was driving, was turning right into the driveway of their son, with her 88-year-old husband in the passenger seat.
Both died at the scene.
The court heard moments before the fatal collision, Steel, who was driving at excessive speed in the 60 kilometre per hour hour zone, had sideswiped another vehicle as it was turning right into a residence.
He continued on before smashing into the Baskervilles' car while travelling at a speed estimated to be around 157 kilometres an hour.
Blood samples taken later in the night revealed Steel was under the influence of prescription medication, alcohol and cannabis.
His blood alcohol reading was 0.11 per cent.
State prosecutor Kade Rosenthal said the impairment caused by the substances, including sleepiness and confusion, was considered to be "extreme".
Mr Rosenthal said data taken from Steel's vehicle showed he did not apply the brakes until milliseconds before the impact with the Baskervilles' car.
Steel's tyres were also found to be bald or near bald.
Steel's lawyer Justine Fisher told the court her client was suffering mental health issues at the time, and he had been addicted to prescription medication because of an injury he suffered after being assaulted by his abusive father.
Ms Fisher said the father had introduced Steel to drugs and alcohol when he was about 15, and while the medication he had taken on the day of the crash was not prescribed to him, he had obtained it online.
Crash aftermath a nightmare
She said while he disputed using cannabis on the day, he accepted he may have used it in the days before, with the court hearing he had a prior conviction for driving with cannabis in his system as well as reckless driving.
Ms Fisher revealed Steel had sent a letter to the court, in which he described having nightmares about what happened "whenever he closed his eyes".
"I have constant feelings of shame, self-loathing and guilt," the letter read.
"I have caused so much pain to the Baskerville family and to my family … and I see the wider community of Dongara suffering.
"I could not be more sorry for my actions."
Mr Rosenthal submitted a substantial jail term was needed, saying despite clipping a vehicle moments before, Steel had persisted in driving in an extremely dangerous manner.
Steel wiped away tears as he sat in the dock, while the Baskervilles' son Bruce and daughter Kaye Robson watched proceedings from the public gallery.
'Pain must be unbearable'
Justice Sam Vandongen said while the state of Steel's tyres did not contribute to the crash, it did give an indication of his attitude to road safety.
He described Steel's driving as "outrageously dangerous", saying he could not understand why he had made the deliberate decision to get behind the wheel.
"You should not have been driving at all." Justice Vandongen told the 24-year-old.
He said Steel had given his victim’s “no chance”.
Justice Vandongen emphasised that no sentence he imposed could directly reflect the loss of the lives of the Baskervilles and the pain suffered by their family members.
"Their pain must be unbearable," he said.
"Losing parents and grandparents without being able to say goodbye is truly monstrous.
"They were minding their own business while turning into their son's driveway.
"The manner of your driving was simply atrocious … your speed was just phenomenal."
Baskervilles were childhood sweethearts
After the sentence, Bruce Baskerville, one of the couple's sons, fought back tears as he said the loss of his parents will never end for the family.
"For us it's a life sentence, and for us and our family and our community it never ends, it will never end," he said.
"We lost our mum and dad in really terrible circumstances, and we have that loss every day and we will have it every day."
Mr Baskerville said the loss would also be felt by the Dongara community because his parents were well known and "in everything".
"Just about every sporting group, every community group, they were members of it (and) they also have their suffering and their pain to go through, so everybody including us is pleased we have finally got to this point."
The couple was married for almost 65 years and their relationship started as childhood sweethearts at school.
"They were still really in love at the end, in the way of people who have been together for that long," Mr Baskerville said.
"They weren't the sort of people who really said bad things about other people, they would always say see the other side … they weren't haters and they were the sort of value they brought us up with."
