Perth teen jailed for killing woman in late-night joyride

A teenager who ran over and killed a 48-year-old woman after a late-night joyride in his brother’s car, has been jailed for nearly five years.

The 18-year-old, who due to being 17 at the time of the offence cannot be named, had no driver’s license and had been smoking cannabis on the night of October 3, 2023, when he was driving down Wanneroo Road.

During his sentencing at Perth Children’s Court on Friday, court president Hylton Quail heard how the teen claimed he was lost and trying to find his father’s house just after 1am when he completed a U-turn at the same time Rebecca Collard was walking along the street.

Collard had been at a friend’s house party, was intoxicated and high on meth and had also been smoking cannabis when she had been asked to leave by concerned friend and was making her way home.

She never made it.

For unknown reasons Collard picked up a lump of concrete and upon seeing the teenager, who was driving his brother’s Subaru with a 16-year-old female passenger beside him, threatened to throw it at them.

The girl told her friend to watch out.

“What the f--- is she trying to do?” the boy said, while winding the window down.

The next 13 seconds have been analysed and dissected by defence lawyers, state prosecutors, police and forensics experts who concluded that the teenager continued his U-turn, which meant he had to mount the curb.

Despite seeing Collard on the walkway, he hit her with his vehicle and instead of stopping he drove on, over her.

His passenger urged him to stop, twice, but instead he accelerated away without realising Collard was stuck underneath, dragging her for 100-150 metres.

She suffered “catastrophic” head and spinal injuries, as well as injuries to her legs and body.

Graphic CCTV footage captured by houses on Wanneroo Road had previously been played to the court and showed Collard being ejected from beneath the car.

The court heard the boy continued driving home, failing to contact authorities or go back and assist.

By chance, Collard’s friends soon after left the house party and found her in the middle of the road where they called for help, but she later died in hospital.

Days later the teen was charged with her murder and offered little explanation to the police, except to say he was “scared out of his mind”.

His actions were described as “callous” by prosecutors who had prepared to take the matter to trial as he pleaded not guilty to Collard’s murder and to two further charges, failing to render assistance and failing to report an incident.

At the 11th hour, moments before his trial was to begin, the boy pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, with Judge Quail stating that the late plea was indicative of someone who showed “precious little evidence of remorse”.

But his defence team claimed otherwise, on Friday telling the court the boy had asked him to express his “profound sorrow and sadness” at the death of Collard, whose family were sitting at the back of court.

“He could have backed up, but not in any conscious way or deliberate callous action, he’s driven forward in a state of fear,” his lawyer argued.

He told the court the boy was born in the UK and later moved to Australia with his parents who are both nurses.

He was a bright and capable student who had finished year 12 and was working as a technical assistant while developing a fashion brand. He has a creative flair and was an avid churchgoer with his family, and had never previously been in trouble with authorities.

He has now spent the past 12 months in an adult prison where he will remain for at least the next 12, sentenced to four years and seven months, backdated to last October. He will be eligible for parole after serving two years and seven months.

“You could have stopped the vehicle or taken evasive action,” Judge Quail said.

“I accept that events happen quickly and that your lack of maturity played a significant part in that decision.”

He added that his offending was “a callous case of manslaughter” but out of character, and “a reaction to confronting circumstances”.

He said Collard’s death had had a profound impact on her friends and family, in particular her sister and state prosecutors described her as “a loved and valued member of her family”.

“Nothing the court does will lessen the grief and loss Ms Collard’s friends and family feel,” president Quail added.

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