A 21-year-old man who killed a young teacher when his car crashed in Broome has been sent to prison.
Neale Jacob Duncalfe had a high blood alcohol reading and was speeding when his Toyota Hilux rolled on Fairway Drive in the early hours of May 29 last year.
Hannah Bevan was thrown from the vehicle and died.
A man who was also thrown from the vehicle was seriously injured.
'Selfish disregard' for safety
District Court Judge Belinda Lonsdale told Duncalfe it had taken a "terrible tragedy" for him to learn his lesson about alcohol.
"You displayed a selfish disregard for the safety of others," she said.
The court heard that on the night, Duncalfe had been drinking at the Roebuck Bay Hotel with three mates.
He was a security guard and was rostered off after midnight because he was expected back at work at 8am the next day.
Prosecutor Sarah Jessup told the court Ms Bevan had been talking to one of the men and Duncalfe offered to drive the group, despite being intoxicated.
Two of the rear seatbelts weren't working.
Ms Jessup said Duncalfe's speed on Fairway Drive was at about 110 kilometres per hour when he lost control on gravel and the car hit a sand embankment before rolling.
Everyone in the vehicle was injured, with one man suffering fractures and concussion, and Ms Bevan was killed.
Ms Jessup said Duncalfe, who was a P-plate driver, had a blood alcohol level of 0.124.
She told the court the decision to drive was a "grossly irresponsible one".
Family tells of trauma
Cobie Bevan read a victim impact statement to the court, describing how the loss of her sister had traumatised her and her siblings.
She said Hannah's death had "clouded every day" with deep grief.
Ms Bevan spoke of how her sister had developed a "highly sought-after skill" teaching Indigenous kids in remote WA.
She'd had a great impact teaching in the East Kimberley and before her death, had been at Looma, where the community went into "sorry time" following the tragedy.
Cobie Bevan said there was now an area near the Fitzroy River named "Hannah's place".
"Hannah was robbed of her life and we were robbed of a shining light," she told the court.
"She had a huge heart".
Grave alcohol problem
Duncalfe's lawyer said he didn't have an independent recollection of why he chose to drive that night.
She said her client was deeply affected by the incident.
Duncalfe appeared in the Perth courtroom via videolink from Broome.
He pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm.
Addressing him, Judge Lonsdale said that while he'd been abstinent for some time, he had "a grave problem with alcohol".
She said he'd been warned about his drinking earlier in the night.
She told the 21-year-old it was "difficult to imagine more selfish conduct", but he was entitled to a discount for a fast track plea.
Judge Lonsdale also spoke of the importance of deterrence, sentencing Duncalfe to three-and-a- half years in prison.
He was made eligible for parole, and disqualified from driving for three years.
In a statement provided to the ABC, Hannah's father Peter Bevan described his daughter as "a passionate and dedicated teacher of Indigenous children in the Kimberley".
"She died at the hands of a drunk driver after innocently accepting a lift from a hotel in Broome.
"We have let an epidemic of alcohol abuse grip the entire Top End, destroying both white and Indigenous people, families and towns."
