Shaun Southern guilty of murder over drug-fuelled death drive on Bussell Highway
Updated
A motorist high on methylamphetamine who drove his four-wheel-drive the wrong way down a major regional highway, colliding head-on with another vehicle and killing the driver, has been found guilty of murder.
Shaun Troy Southern, 46, killed Jennifer Pratt when he drove into her car on the dual-carriageway Bussell Highway near the town of Capel in WA's South West on February 18, 2017.
Southern did not know Ms Pratt or her passenger, Karen Williams, who was injured in the accident.
After about two hours of deliberating, the jury found him guilty of murder and guilty of attempting to unlawfully kill Ms Williams.
The Supreme Court trial was told Southern had a $400 a day methylamphetamine habit and had been using the drug for the past five years.
A toxicologist testified he had meth in his system at the time of the crash and was probably intoxicated.
Footage filmed by bystanders and played to the court showed Southern driving down the highway at speed and deliberately swerving into the paths of oncoming vehicles.
The state argued that Southern had the intention to kill whoever was in that vehicle Ms Pratt's vehicle at the time.
Southern's defence conceded the then 45-year-old was "off his head" on the day in question, but did not intend to kill anyone.
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, drugs-and-substance-abuse, drug-offences, capel-6271
First posted
