One man links a home invasion murder and a pregnant woman's death in a high-speed crash

CHAOTIC: A crime scene related to the home invasion murder of Philip Steele at Whitebridge and, inset, one of the killers, Luke Jones.

DOUBLE killer Jeremy Garvey will have to wait to be sentenced for murdering a small-time drug dealer during a home invasion until after he is dealt with for causing a high-speed crash at Charlestown that killed a pregnant woman.

Garvey and 26-year-old Luke Jones were expected to face a two-day sentence hearing in NSW Supreme Court this week for the brutal home invasion murder of Philip Steele at Whitebridge in December, 2018.

Philip Steele.

But with Garvey also expected to be sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Friday for causing a fiery high-speed crash on the Pacific Highway three months before the murder, Justice Robert Hulme said he would delay giving judgment, concerned his likely decades long sentence would almost wholly subsume the other jail term. The decision means Garvey could ultimately receive a longer total jail term for two separate extremely dangerous and violent acts that ended in death, despite the two sentences likely to partially overlap.

About three months before he climbed through an open window into Mr Steele's home and repeatedly slashed the 60-year-old with a machete, Garvey was behind the wheel of a stolen car that raced through a red light on the Pacific Highway at Charlestown and crashed into a service station, killing one of his passengers, a 32-year-old pregnant woman.

INVESTIGATION: Specialist forensic police examine Philip Steele's house at Whitebridge in December, 2018.

CCTV from the service station shows Garvey was doing more than 45km/h over the speed limit, the stolen Subaru WRX leaving a trail of sparks in its wake as it became airborne, crashed into signage and spun out of control. Garvey - disqualified from driving and under the influence of methylamphetamine and amphetamine at the time of the crash - suffered serious injuries and was taken to hospital.

But a number of factors, including the fact crash investigators were forced to wait for DNA testing to confirm Garvey was the driver, meant Garvey was able to discharge himself from hospital and was on the run from police on the night of the home invasion that ended in Mr Steele's death.

He was the first of three men to climb into the home in the early hours of December 17, 2018, and pulled out a machete before he was confronted inside the house by Mr Steele. Mr Steele, who 12 hours earlier had been robbed by Garvey posing as a police officer, was slashed numerous times with the machete and hit with a baseball bat. Jones, who was unarmed during the home invasion, and Garvey will be sentenced for the murder next week. A third man, who used the baseball bat during the home invasion, was jailed for at least 11 years.

SPEED: A 32-year-old pregnant woman died in a high-speed crash at Charlestown in September, 2018. Jeremy Garvey will be sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Friday for causing the crash.