A drink-driver was travelling at more than double the speed limit when he ploughed his Ford Falcon into another car, leaving a woman with spinal fractures and a raft of other serious injuries.
The force of the crash in Florey was such that the victim's Hyundai Tucson was propelled 66 metres down the road, while its engine was dislodged and found 57 metres from the area of impact.
A statement of agreed facts tendered to the ACT Magistrates Court reveals Evatt man Jacob Sommers, 25, hit the brakes but still slammed into the victim's car at no less than 170 kilometres an hour in an 80 zone.
Following the March 2019 crash, which occurred at the intersection of Southern Cross Drive and Ross Smith Crescent, Sommers returned a blood alcohol reading above the legal limit.
Police also spoke to witnesses who reported having seen Sommers' vehicle "travelling at high speed and weaving through traffic" shortly before the collision.
His driver's licence was immediately suspended, and he has since pleaded guilty to charges of culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm and drink-driving.
The agreed facts of the case say the victim has undergone some surgical procedures, and will ultimately need to go under the knife at least five times as a result of the crash.
Her injuries included fractures of her spine, pelvis, left leg, sternum and both of her arms, as well as bruising of the right lung.
She now walks with "a pronounced limp", and has required heavy doses of painkillers to cope with her day-to-day life.
The victim also attends regular physiotherapy and hydrotherapy as part of her recovery.
The agreed facts say her young son was a passenger in the Hyundai station wagon when the crash happened, but they do not reveal whether the boy was hurt.
Sommers was due to be sentenced on Thursday afternoon in the ACT Magistrates Court, which heard he had been assessed as unsuitable for an intensive correction order.
But a Legal Aid lawyer representing the 25-year-old applied for an adjournment, saying she wanted to seek an updated report.
She told the court Sommers had "poor and limited interpersonal skills", which could be addressed and which had likely played a key role in him being deemed unsuitable for a jail sentence served in the community.
The lawyer said Sommers had recently attended numerous counselling sessions, which was a significant step in the right direction "for someone like [him]".
Magistrate Louise Taylor responded by saying this was just the start, and Sommers needed to continue taking steps "away from the gates" of Canberra's jail if he stood any chance of receiving a sentence that would not take him through those gates.
In granting the application for an adjournment, Ms Taylor warned Sommers to "mature a bit" and to not come back to court without some progress to show for himself.
"If you haven't already, you need to leave with a real appreciation of the very serious position you find yourself in," the magistrate told Sommers.
Ms Taylor noted that Sommers could be staring down the barrel of a lengthy stint behind bars if she ultimately decided against an intensive correction order.
"The consequences for the person in the other car are not only serious, but appear to be lifelong," the magistrate said.
Ms Taylor remanded Sommers on bail to appear in court again on December 10.
She also ordered an updated intensive correction order assessment.
