A mother has escaped a jail sentence after she crashed a car and killed her fiance while four times the legal alcohol limit after horrific details of their relationship were revealed.
The District Court in Mackay heard Shannon Dryburgh, 58, was a passenger in the car when his fiancee Shontelle Elizabeth Fulton, 43, lost control on Conway Road in Preston on June 30, 2021.
The car flipped, spinning 180 degrees and pinning both Fulton and Mr Dryburgh upside down.
The court heard Mr Dryburgh died at the scene, with an autopsy noting "unsurvivable chest injuries", while Fulton was taken to Proserpine Hospital.
Fulton was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance after she was found to be between 0.192 and 0.205 at the time of the crash, and driving under the influence.
She pleaded guilty to both charges.
In court on Wednesday, Fulton's barrister Scott Mclennan detailed to the court Mr Dryburgh's multiple violent assaults on Fulton leading up to the crash.
'Feed you to the crocodiles'
The court heard the most relevant incident happened in August 2020, when the pair had been drinking in Airlie Beach and Fulton had laughed at a joke two older men had told her.
Mr Dryburgh became angry and forced the pair to leave.
Mr McLennan told the court Fulton had refused to drive given the fact they were intoxicated, but Mr Dryburgh had marched to her car and told her to get in.
He said Fulton had been scared so complied, but Mr Dryburgh had become "more erratic", and began punching her while driving to a nearby bridge.
The court heard Mr Dryburgh told Fulton "I'm going to feed you to the crocodiles" and "no-one will miss you when you're gone".
Mr McLennan police were in the area and noticed the car.
The court heard they shone a light into the back of the vehicle, where they saw Fulton's face bloodied and swollen.
Mr Dryburgh told police she had been in a bar fight, and Fulton, too fearful of further violence, went along with the story.
Fulton 'didn't want to drive'
The court heard that on June 30 2021, the night of the fatal crash, the pair were at the Prince of Wales Hotel at Proserpine, where they met a friend of Mr Dryburgh.
In a statement to police, Mr Dryburgh's friend recalled that Mr Dryburgh became erratic when he thought another man was looking at Fulton and had "grabbed [the other man] by the throat".
The court heard the friend tried to coax Mr Dryburgh, telling him it wasn't the time or the place and suggested they should leave the pub and get a room at the hotel.
He said Fulton had also hidden $100 in her bra and tried to insist they get a taxi home, but Mr Dryburgh refused both options and began threatening his fiancee and marched her by the arm to the car.
Mr McLennan said Fulton did not want to drive, but believed she was the least intoxicated between them and was fearful of what happened when Mr Dryburgh had driven in August 2020.
The court heard Fulton ultimately opted to drive and then crashed the car, killing Mr Dryburgh.
Staff found the $100 note in Fulton's bra at the hospital.
Crown prosecutor Melissa Wilson acknowledged the violent history of the relationship but also pressed the risk Fulton posed to innocent drivers.
Unusual and compelling
In his sentencing, Judge Gregory Lynham said he had seen no "comparable authorities" to draw on.
He said the fear of violence in which Fulton had felt constituted a such a "compelling and unusual feature" that he could use his sentencing discretion.
"While it does not provide you a defence at law, nevertheless it does provide a compelling explanation as to how you came to be behind the wheel," he said.
But Judge Lynham said dangerous driving would not be tolerated.
He sentenced Fulton to four years' imprisonment, suspended immediately for a period of five years.
Her licence was suspended for 12 months.
