An off-duty taxi driver who was drunk and speeding when he crashed into a concrete wall in Adelaide's southern suburbs will be deported after serving his sentence.
Arshdeep Singh, 21, had five others in his car when he ploughed into the wall at the corner of Seaford Road and Main South Road in Old Noarlunga last September.
All six people were taken to hospital and Singh pleaded guilty to four counts of causing serious harm by dangerous driving and one count of causing harm by dangerous driving.
South Australia's District Court heard the group had been drinking and listening to music before they decided to go somewhere else, with Singh believing he was the "least intoxicated" person to drive.
"Your dangerous driving is objectively very serious," Judge Paul Muscat said.
"You were drunk and travelling at extremely high speeds."
Judge Muscat said as a taxi driver he would have also known that it was illegal to have passengers in his car.
"It is incredible that none of the passengers were not injured more seriously than they were, or worse, killed," the judge said.
Passengers screaming as Singh sped
The court heard he had been travelling so fast that his passengers were screaming and telling him to slow down.
Judge Muscat recalled a victim impact statement from one of the passengers, in which she described the ongoing impact of the crash.
"She has endured terrible nightmares of the collision," he said.
"She cannot forget the screaming, the screeching sound of the tyres and the slamming of the vehicle into the wall."
The court heard a senior police investigator had viewed footage of the crash and estimated that he was driving at 148kph in a 60kph zone five seconds before the crash, and turned the corner at more than 100kph.
The court heard Singh did not do a proper alcohol breath test at the crash site when asked by police, but he later recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.107 in hospital.
It was estimated that two hours earlier, at the time of the crash, his alcohol reading would have been 0.139.
Singh was born in India and moved to Australia in March 2019 on a student visa to undergo tertiary study, and had been working as a taxi driver to fund his study.
"Your dream of a life living and working in Australia is now over as your visa will be cancelled and you will be deported to India upon your release from prison," Judge Muscat said.
"You feel ashamed all of your parents' hard work to see you better your life will come to nothing."
He was sentenced to five years in prison with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years.
Judge Muscat said his young age, early guilty pleas and high moral culpability had contributed to a discounted sentence.
After imprisonment, Singh will be deported to India.
The court also ordered that he be disqualified from driving for 14 years.
