It was “pure luck” no one was killed when a woman carjacked a young driver and drove dangerously through central Launceston, a Supreme Court judge says.
Amanda Maree Phillips, 33, was this month jailed for two-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to carjacking, dangerous driving, evading police and a string of other charges.
The offences happened in Launceston on November 11 last year.
The court heard Phillips ran into oncoming traffic at the corner of Paterson and Wellington streets and forced a young man to stop the Toyota Corolla he was driving.
She opened the driver’s door, grabbed him by the collar and threatened to stab him. He handed over the car and Phillips drove off.
The court heard she did not have a knife.
What followed was a dangerous drive through some of Launceston’s busiest streets in heavy traffic and wet conditions.
Phillips drove on the wrong side of the road, sped the wrong way through one-way hospital entrances and drove into the emergency department area before crashing into a bollard.
The drive ended when another car hit her vehicle at an intersection. She ran off but was arrested a few blocks away.
Justice Robert Pearce said the manner and speed of her driving posed a grave risk to the public.
“It is pure luck that someone was not killed or injured,” he said.
Justice Pearce said the carjacking deserved punishment on its own.
The threat to stab the victim “must have been traumatising and requires punishment independently of what followed”, he said.
The court heard Phillips had experienced disadvantage, including childhood exposure to family violence and long-term drug addiction.
She was affected by cannabis and methylamphetamine at the time of the offences.
A psychologist suggested her moral culpability was reduced, but Justice Pearce gave that little weight, pointing to her drug use as the main factor.
Phillips will be eligible for parole after serving half her sentence. She was also disqualified from driving for four years.
