DRIVER CLEARED OF MURDER
A DRIVER who hit and killed a motorcyclist at 180km/h because a voice told her to “get actor Ewan McGregor” has been found not guilty of murder due to mental illness.
Vanessa Fraser claimed to be “possessed” when she ran over father-of-three Trevor Moran near Cudgen Creek in January 2017.
The 49-year-old woman said to police a male voice told her to “get Ewan McGregor” and that she had no control over the car. “The car was out of control,” Fraser told police. “Um, but then it was like a male voice, it wanted to get … He wanted to get Ewan McGregor …”
A DRIVER who hit and killed a motorcyclist at 180km/h because a voice told her to “get actor Ewan McGregor” has been found not guilty of murder due to mental illness.
Vanessa Fraser claimed to be “possessed” when she ran over father-of-three Trevor Moran near Cudgen Creek in January 2017.
The 49-year-old woman said to police a male voice told her to “get Ewan McGregor” and that she had no control over the car.
Mr McGregor is known for his documentary Long Way Round, in which he travels the world by motorcycle.
“The car was out of control,” Fraser told police after the incident. “Um, but then it was like a male voice, it wanted to get … He wanted to get Ewan McGregor … And then that, that was him that it saw him and suddenly the car just swerved to the, to hit him.”
Court documents reveal Fraser was in and out of mental health wards between Lismore and Tweed Heads from mid-2012 to just months before Mr Moran's death. Her condition improved under medication, but she did not take it once released and smoked cannabis each day.
According to Supreme Court Judge Desmond Fagan’s decision, on the morning of the incident Fraser was complaining of heart palpitations to the night supervisor of the Sofitel Hotel in Broadbeach.
He called an ambulance but she was aggressive towards the paramedics and drove away quickly. Eight hours later she was seen speeding between Byron Bay and the Cudgen Creek overpass, where the crash happened.
“I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that by voluntary action the accused drove her car so as to approach Mr Moran’s motorcycle from behind at a speed in the order of 180km/h” Judge Fagan wrote.
“I am satisfied … that at the time of the collision the accused laboured under such a defect of reason from the disease of her mind that she did not know the quality and nature of what she was doing.”
Fraser was not convicted of murder but will be held in custody until the Mental Health Review Tribunal decides to release her.