Lance O’Brien, 31, of Nathalia, pleaded guilty in the Shepparton County Court Koori Court to culpable driving causing death, and a summary charge of contravening a bail condition, after the fatal crash last October.
Vilia Sutherland was killed when O’Brien’s Toyota Corolla veered across the Barmah-Shepparton Rd and into the path of Ms Sutherland’s Renault Captur SUV, which was travelling in the opposite direction at about 4.40pm on October 2, 2025.
The mother-of-four died in the crash at Kaarimba, while one of the three dogs she had in the car with her had to be euthanised due to injuries.
Another of the dogs ran away, while a third was taken to the vet with injuries.
O’Brien was flown to a Melbourne hospital by air ambulance with injuries, and when his blood was tested two hours and 45 minutes after the crash, he recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.143.
A doctor at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine calculated O’Brien’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash as having been between 0.170 and 0.198.
As a P-plater at the time, O’Brien legally should have had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.00.
He also had 0.28 milligrams/litre of methamphetamines in his system.
Dr Jason Schreiber said the combination of alcohol and drugs would have made him “incapable of having proper control of the vehicle”.
He was also speeding, with a collision reconstruction expert saying his vehicle would have been travelling at between 115km/h and 122km/h.
O’Brien was on bail at the time, with conditions including that he did not drive, use drugs or drink alcohol.
In sentencing O’Brien in the Melbourne County Court, Judge Carolene Gwynn acknowledged the loss of Ms Sutherland and spoke of the effect it had had on her family members, including her daughters and sister who read victim impact statements in the court.
“The profound impact of the harm you have caused to the family of Vilia Sutherland cannot be lost on you,” Judge Gwynne said.
She also said her sentence “did not equate the value of Vilia Sutherland’s life” and was one made on principles of law.
Judge Gwynne spoke of O’Brien’s upbringing, which she said was one of violence and substance abuse, that saw him start to use cannabis at the age of 11 or 12, before moving on to heroin at 13, methamphetamines at 13 or 14, and drinking alcohol at 15.
Before the crash, he was drinking a bottle of bourbon daily and using methamphetamines, Judge Gwynne said.
The court heard O’Brien had stopped using drugs between the ages of 22 and 28, but had spiralled back into drug use after the death of a young nephew and a cousin’s wife in a car crash in 2024.
Judge Gwynne also spoke of his prior criminal history, which included careless driving in July 2020, and a sentence he was on appeal bail for from June 2025, on charges that included burglary, theft, intentionally causing injury and driving while suspended.
In jailing O’Brien, Judge Gwynne said he had placed himself and other road users at serious risk of death by his actions.
O’Brien was jailed for eight years and two months, with a non-parole period of five years and two months.
The 26 days he has spent in pre-sentence detention were also reckoned as already served.
O’Brien’s driver’s licence was also cancelled for five years, and he was fined $1200 for committing an indictable offence while on bail.
