A man who was driving while fatigued and taking “poor man’s meth” tablets when he killed a mine worker in a head-on collision has been jailed for seven years.
Nathan Brian Teraki, 41, faced Queensland District Court in Brisbane on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death while affected by an intoxicating substance.
Crown prosecutor Carla Ahern said Teraki had been showing signs of fatigue in his Nissan Patrol while driving just after 5am on the Capricorn Hwy west of Rockhampton on October 26, 2022.
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“He drove part-way over the white line into oncoming traffic. He pulled into a truckstop and was stationary for two minutes … he continued driving,” Ahern said.
She said Teraki’s dashcam recorded him veering into the opposite lane nine times as he drove for another hour and 27 minutes before colliding head-on with a Toyota Hilux driven by 46-year-old Northern Territory man Leslie Noel Huxham.
Huxham died at the scene despite efforts of bystanders to resuscitate him.
Judge Dzenita Balic heard Teraki tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and the active ingredient of cannabis.
Ahern said in the time after the crash Teraki had been charged twice for speeding and for driving a defective vehicle.
Huxham’s wife Gillian Huxham read her victim impact statement to Balic and said Teraki’s actions caused devastating effects on her family’s future.
“Les was randomly placed in your path of self-destruction … when I close my eyes at night I see Les bleeding and broken,” she said.
Huxham said her husband was honest, well-respected, had a “superpower to see the good in people” and she now found it hard to function without him.
“I don’t even recognise the person I am now as you killed her when you killed Les,” she said.
Teraki’s solicitor Andrew Scheiwe said his client had been taking ADHD medication known as “poor man’s meth” because of his labouring job requiring long hours and travelling “huge distances” every day.
“Rather than someone who’s had a night out, this was just another day at work. He was told he needed to be out there to do his job,” he said.
Scheiwe said Teraki had very little sleep before the crash and his decision to drive was made while impaired from mental health issues.
Teraki started sobbing in the dock as Scheiwe described how he had attempted to take his life because of immense guilt.
Scheiwe said Teraki was a New Zealand citizen and would likely be deported upon his release from custody.
Balic said Teraki was “genuinely remorseful” but had missed a crucial moment that morning when he could have decided to get off the road.
“A car is like a loaded weapon. It can kill easily,” she said.
Teraki was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of two years.
He was disqualified from driving for four years and three months.
Huxham said outside court the sentence had been “very fair” to all parties.
