A coroner has found an off-duty police officer’s inattentive driving caused the deaths of a Tasmanian mother and her teenage son.
Coroner Leigh Mackey’s report into the May 10, 2022, crash on Brinktop Road near Sorell said former constable Cassandra Richardson’s Toyota Hilux drifted into oncoming traffic.
The collision killed 51-year-old Teresa Brown and her 16-year-old son Jim.
Investigators found Richardson’s vehicle crossed the continuous white centre line “by at least half the width of her motor vehicle” as she drove home from her day shift at Bellerive Police Station.
Brown swerved to avoid her but was unable to prevent the crash.
“I find the accident was caused by the inattention and manner of driving of Ms Richardson,” Mackey said.
A witness driving behind Richardson told investigators she saw the Hilux drift out of its lane several times before the crash.
They said they saw the car crossing the centre line and twice veering into the gravel verge.
At the crash scene, distressed witnesses heard Richardson say “what have I done”, that she had “killed two people” and had “fallen asleep”.
The coroner found Richardson was disqualified from driving at the time, after being caught speeding by 45km/h by a speed camera during an emergency response.
Despite this, she continued to drive privately and on duty for Tasmania Police, mistakenly believing she was exempt from the disqualification.
Brown, who lived with Jim in the Campania area after separating from her husband, had just picked up her son from work when the crash happened.
Both were wearing seatbelts, but their vehicle had no airbags.
Richardson was convicted last year of causing death by dangerous driving and received a wholly suspended six-month jail sentence.
She resigned from Tasmania Police in September 2024.
The coroner concluded that alcohol, drugs, speed, weather and road conditions did not contribute to the crash.
