A 23-year-old Canberra woman, Shakira Adams, has pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing the death of 20-year-old Matthew McLuckie in a high-speed crash on Hindmarsh Drive in May 2022.
Adams was accused of driving on the wrong side of the road at a speed of at least 177 kilometres per hour when she collided head-on with Mr McLuckie’s car, resulting in his death.
She has also pleaded guilty to driving a stolen car.
Background of the Case
The incident occurred on May 19, 2022, when Mr McLuckie was driving home from his job at Canberra’s airport.
Adams, who has never held a driver’s licence, was driving a stolen car at high speed, followed by another stolen car.
After several runs up and down another main road, the two cars travelled onto Hindmarsh Drive heading towards Fyshwick.
Adams drove across the grass median strip onto the wrong side of the road, continuing to drive at speed into oncoming traffic.
She narrowly missed another car before colliding head-on with Mr McLuckie’s car, killing him instantly.
Investigation and Trial
The case has been in and out of the courts for some time, with Adams’s lawyers attempting to have her declared unfit to plead twice due to a traumatic brain injury sustained in the crash.
However, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum refused, prompting an appeal that failed.
Adams’s lawyers had planned to use a six-week trial, citing her brain injury required her to rest for 15 minutes every half hour or so.
Despite a long-running police investigation, no one else was arrested over the incident, although it is believed a third car was involved.
Sentencing and Reactions
Adams has been remanded in custody pending her sentencing later this year.
Chief Justice McCallum acknowledged she had shown up to court when required but had continued to take drugs, including methamphetamine, which showed up in a test only last week.
Matthew McLuckie’s family, including his father Tom, were in court to hear the plea.
In a statement, Tom McLuckie said his family had “endured relentless anguish, trauma, delays, and over 30 hearings” since the crash, and that his son was a “lovingly hardworking young man” who would have graduated, started his career, and perhaps been in a serious relationship by now.