There were tears on both sides of a Canberra courtroom as a 72-year-old woman was sentenced on Wednesday over a car crash that killed a 91-year-old WWII veteran.
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Henryk "Frank" Kustra died in the head on collision on Long Gully Road in Canberra's south about 12pm on May 10 last year.
Margaret Ann Stewart had been driving in the opposite direction when her car suddenly and inexplicably swerved into his path.
Stewart appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court to be sentenced, after earlier pleading guilty to charge of negligent driving causing death.
On one side of the court was Mr Kustra's family, and on the other side Ms Stewart's.
On both sides there were tears.
In a letter read out by the prosecutor, Mr Kustra's daughter said that although he was 91 he was not an old man. "He had a calendar full of activities," she said.
She said he would go to feed their mother, who was in high-level care, lunch almost every day, and also pass her chocolate and sips of Baileys.
Mr Kustra, who was born in Poland but lived for more than 60 years in Australia, survived a Russian gulag camp during World War II, the letter read. He played competition table tennis.
His daughter said he moved from Sydney to Canberra to be closer to family, and had found a whole new audience for his stories.
In another letter, Mr Kustra's granddaughter said her life was turned upside when he died. He had been a big part of her life.
"I loved him dearly," she said.
"I know he was 91, but I truly believed he could have lived to 100."
What exactly caused Stewart to crash that day remains unknown, the court heard.
Police had alleged Stewart had either fallen asleep or had been significantly distracted.
And prosecutor Trent Hickey said the woman must have had lapse of inattention of several seconds and 100 metres of road. He said her moral culpability was high.
But her lawyer Peter Woodhouse said that the suggestions by police and prosecutors were speculation drawn from the crash data and not supported by the evidence.
He said any moment of inattention was brief, and that her moral culpability was low.
Data retrieved from her car suggested she had been travelling at a consistent 78km/h - under the speed limit before the crash.
There was no evidence she braked or made changes to her steering before the impact.
She had not been drinking alcohol.
Mr Woodhouse said she had no memory of what happened but did not believe she would have fallen asleep.
But the lawyer also said Stewart had accepted that she had failed in her duties as a road user.
She was deeply remorseful, he said.
The court heard Stewart had nearly died in the crash, and suffered serious chest and abdominal injuries.
She had an unblemished criminal history, and Mr Woodhouse said there would be no doubt Stewart was a person of "truly exceptional character".
Her references spoke of a law-abiding, loving, caring and kind-hearted woman, he said.
One, from Stewart's husband, was the most love-filled letter the lawyer said he had ever seen.
He told the court she had not slept since reading the victim impact statements from Mr Kustra's family.
She thought about his death every day, and could not bring herself to drive since the accident.
Magistrate Beth Campbell addressed Mr Kustra's family, a large number of who sat to one side of the court, before she sentenced Stewart.
She said this was tragic case, and that Mr Kustra sounded like a "fabulous human being" who she would have been honoured to meet.
She said that the sentencing on Wednesday was not about payment or restitution for their loss.
She acknowledged that she could not compensate for the family's profound sense of grief.
And the sentence was in no way meant to reflect their grief, or Mr Kustra's extraordinary life.
The magistrate also acknowledged the difficulty in assessing the level of Stewart's negligence, in that no one knew what had happened.
She acknowledged too Stewart's excellent character and the lack of aggravating featuress such as speed or alcohol.
Ms Campbell convicted the woman and sentenced her to an 18-month good behaviour order.
Her licence was automatically disqualified for three months.
