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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Blake Foden

Doctor 'seems to suggest' alleged killer driver is fit for trial, court told

The aftermath of the crash that killed Matthew McLuckie, inset. Pictures supplied

A doctor's report "seems to suggest" an alleged killer is fit to stand trial over the death of a university student, who was killed in a horror head-on crash, a court has heard.

But the "equivocal" nature of the document will delay a definitive decision, with the ACT's acting Director of Public Prosecutions to seek the opinion of a second expert.

The alleged killer, Shakira May Adams, remains in Canberra Hospital receiving treatment for injuries she suffered during the high-speed collision that killed Matthew McLuckie, 20, in May last year.

Police allege the Bruce woman, aged in her early 20s, was driving a stolen Volkswagen sedan on the wrong side of Hindmarsh Drive when the car hit Mr McLuckie's vehicle at no less than 177km/h.

Mr McLuckie, an Australian National University student, was on his way home from a shift at Canberra Airport, where he worked as a baggage handler, when he was killed.

Adams is yet to enter pleas to charges of manslaughter, culpable driving causing death, aggravated reckless driving, driving a vehicle without consent, and unlicensed driving.

Court proceedings thus far have been dominated by uncertainty about whether Adams, who allegedly had drugs in her system at the time in question, is fit to plead.

In the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday, acting Director of Public Prosecutions Anthony Williamson SC said Dr Anthony Barker had prepared a report that did not expressly answer the question.

Mr Williamson said the document "seems to suggest" Adams would be fit to answer her charges if "reasonable accommodations" were made to the trial process, but it was not entirely clear.

He therefore proposed to have the matter adjourned for two or three months, telling Chief Justice Lucy McCallum he would use that time to retain another medical expert to examine Adams' fitness.

Defence lawyer Tamzin Lee did not oppose the idea, which Chief Justice McCallum agreed to.

The judge accordingly adjourned the case until September 21, when it will go before a registrar.

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