Angela Lea Smith, the drug driver who was speeding when she lost control of her car and killed a passenger in the violent crash that followed, has been jailed for five years.
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Smith and her then-boyfriend left Jozef Stefaniak, 24, for dead on the side of the road when they fled from the scene where the crumpled car had come to a rest.
It's this act that still rankles the dead man's family more than a year on.
"The most disturbing thing about this whole case apart from just losing a son is that she and a mate Kane Kell bolted from the scene and left my son literally for dead, and then tried to blame him," Bill Stefaniak said.
"For goodness sake, if you injure a mate, you're in a car accident ... stay at the scene, admit what you've done's wrong, cooperate with the authorities."
Speaking outside court on Tuesday after the sentence, Mr Stefaniak said that Smith, 34, didn't stay to help his son rankled him and the family, and would until the day they die.
Mr Stefaniak, a former leader of the Canberra Liberals, prosecutor and special magistrate, said the sentence was about what the family expected and reasonable in the circumstances but that nothing would bring their son back.
He said that he hoped the courses Smith had done in prison helped show her the enormity of what she had done.
"I hope that she does come out of jail a better person than when she went in," he said. "Because if she doesn't someone else's life may well be put at risk just like my son's was."
He said while his son had his problems, he was a loyal friend and a loving and caring person.
"Certainly he cared greatly for people, he loved animals, he had a really quirky sense of humour, he certainly packed a lot into his 24 years of life," Mr Stefaniak said.
Smith pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court to culpable driving causing death, failing to give assistance, drug driving, driving without a seatbelt, unlicensed driving and driving an unregistered car.
The crash happened about 6pm on January 2 last year, on Yarra Glen in Hughes.
Smith was speeding and had the drug ice in her system when she lost control of the white BMW and it rolled several times, throwing its occupants from the car.
While Smith and her then-boyfriend picked themselves up and fled, Jozef Stefaniak died on the side of the road from serious head injuries.
Smith's then-boyfriend was arrested and charged over the crash as he denied being behind the wheel. He had told police it was Jozef Stefaniak who had been driving.
But the man was released a week later after fresh evidence came to light suggesting it was Smith responsible for the accident.
Prosecutors used Smith's actions following the accident, including a Facebook post in which she shifted blame to Jozef Stefaniak by suggesting he was not wearing a seatbelt, to argue she felt little remorse.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson jailed Smith for five years, setting a non-parole period of three years. The judge also disqualified Smith from driving for seven years.
She urged the woman to use the time in jail to consider what she had done.
Smith did not react during the sentence but as she was led away by corrections officers she blew a kiss to someone in the public gallery.
With time served Smith will be eligible for release in January 2021.
