7 Oct 2010

Crown disputes new evidence for fatal crash driver

9:18 pm on 7 October 2010

The Crown says new evidence in an appeal hearing for a man who killed a woman by deliberately driving his car into hers is not fresh enough to lead to a retrial.

In February this year, Tony Worrell was sentenced to serve at least 14 years in jail for the murder of Katie Powles.

Worrell was also found guilty of other charges arising from the crash in 2008, which included causing grievous bodily harm to the driver of another vehicle he hit.

Worrell was twice the legal drink-drive limit and the Crown said he crashed his car in an effort to kill himself.

His lawyer Howard Lawry told the Court of Appeal on Thursday that new evidence is available relating to the effects of alcohol and the drug diazepam when combined, as Worrell did before the fatal crash.

However, the Crown said that matter was not raised during the trial and should not be accepted on appeal.

Mr Lawry also said the 14-year minimum jail term imposed on his client was too long.

But the Crown said the sentence reflected the serious injuries that others suffered in the crash, as well as Ms Powles's death.