Perth mother faces court after crash that killed teen daughter

Perth mother faces court over crash that killed her teen daughter.

A Perth mother has been sentenced to four years and six months in jail over a drunken crash which killed her teenage daughter in March last year.

Janet Louise Kirby played a drinking game before getting behind the wheel of a car and then attempting to scare the occupants of a moped before crashing and killing her teenage daughter.

There were six passengers, aged between 15 and 20, crammed into the five-seater jeep when it left the road and rolled over in Merriwa last March.
Ms Kirby’s 15-year-old daughter, Lois Kirby, was unrestrained in the boot at the time of the crash and was thrown from the vehicle and died from her injuries.

A further three passengers were hurt in the crash.

The West Australian District Court heard that Kirby had a blood alcohol reading of 0.110 per cent at the time and had been encouraged by her passengers to swerve to scare the moped rider and their passenger but lost control.

Judge Linda Petrusa took into consideration Kirby’s guilty plea, remorse and previously unblemished record.

It was unlikely Kirby would ever reoffend and no sentence could be worse than that which she imposed on herself, Judge Petrusa added.

“This event is a tragedy but it’s a tragedy that could have been avoided,” she said.

Kirby must spend at least two-and-a-half years behind bars before she can be eligible for parole.

She has also been fined $650 and had her driver’s licence suspended for three years.

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13 Comments

- - mom175388 said
  - 04 Mar 2016
    10:53 pm
This is so horrible and irresponsible.

- - mom156049 said
  - 03 Mar 2016
    8:08 am
A sad situation that she will have to live with knowing her own actions resulted in the loss of her daughters life. Drink driving is bad enough but also swerving at a moped – she could have also killed them…

- - coastalkaryn said
  - 12 Feb 2016
    2:16 pm
Oh, how heartbreaking – for all parties

- - iccara said
  - 11 Feb 2016
    9:35 am
This is such a horrible story. One would think (and hope) the mother is grieving and is devastated by the loss of her daughter.
she made a very silly decision to drive while under the influence and while I know everyone makes mistakes drink driving causes horrible events to follow. As an emergency service worker I see this first hand and its horrible
Another silly mistake putting the child in the boot of the vehicle. It was lucky noone else was killed including the rider/passenger of the moped

- - june11 said
  - 07 Feb 2016
    10:59 pm
I hope the license starts at the end of her parole, not from when she leaves gaol. personally I don’t believe she should be allowed to drive again.
She was over double the legal alcohol limit (.05 is legal limit). Unless she was driving a station wagon the passenger in the boot wouldn’t have known what was going on.

- - serotonin said
  - 06 Feb 2016
    2:10 pm
Drink driving alone is dangerous, but to put your own child in the boot of a car? No way! Alcohol makes people make bad choices, which is why I don’t drink anymore.

- - mom94125 said
  - 05 Feb 2016
    6:48 pm
that is really sad. never drink and then drive.

- - mum4107 said
  - 05 Feb 2016
    5:31 am
Oh my goodness. How tragic. She has a life sentence to deal with as well

- - mom101628 said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    10:45 pm
Can’t imagine how she will live with the guilt of what she has done.

- - rachelvk said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    10:22 pm
This actually a very disturbing story. I don’t understand how anyone can get so drunk that they do such stupid things, let alone doing it around teenage kids…

- - mom165081 said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    6:10 pm
DUI is so wrong – what a horrible thing to happen. So glad the penalty is tough. Still really for her though.

- - welshmummy said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    5:44 pm
What a terrible tragedy. To lose a child is devastating but through and accident you caused would be totally heartbreaking. Although, I do agree she must face some form of punishment for her actions.

- - Nas01 said
  - 04 Feb 2016
    3:00 pm
She really does need to be punished and I’m sure the death of her child will be a life sentence.