FAMILY BEGS JUDGE

Woman begs for sister not to be jailed after fatal crash

THE family of a drink driver told a Gold Coast court it had lost a sister and daughter to a fatal car crash and it could not bear to lose another.

Loved ones begged for Judge David Kent to spare Candice Lee Chmieluk, 31, jail time after she pleaded guilty to killing her younger sister Sammy-Jo in 2016 while driving four times over the legal blood alcohol limit.

Chmieluk was given five years in prison, to be suspended after three months.

A WOMAN begged a judge not to send the Gold Coast mother who killed her sister to prison.

Candice Lee Chmieluk, 31, pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court yesterday to killing her younger sister Sammy-Jo while driving four times over the legal blood alcohol limit.

The force of the 2016 crash was so powerful it “sheered” the pair’s 4WD in half, killing Sammy-Jo instantly and caused the part of the car Candice was trapped inside to continue to slide 30m down the road. Candice was driving with a suspended licence.

Candice’s older sister, Kristy, 36, told the court she had forgiven her sister and could not bear the thought of “losing” another sibling.

“If she is sent to jail I will be losing my second sister,” Kristy (pictured) told the court through tears.

“The loss of my baby sister has been utterly unbearable, but I have forgiven Candice.

“She has been given a life sentence for her behaviour – the past two years have been worse than any sentence this court can give.”

Chmieluk’s mother, father, aunt and brother stood “shoulder to shoulder” yesterday, delivering victim impact statements that detailed their grief and pleading for the mother of four-year-old twins to be spared jail time.

Defence barrister Andrew Bow pushed for her sentence to be wholly suspended arguing that time behind bars would harm her young children.

In sentencing, Judge David Kent said Chmieluk must face time behind bars and sentenced her to five years prison and ordered that the sentence be suspended after three months.

Judge Kent said it was rare to find a similar case in which a family “stood shoulder to shoulder in making a plea in mitigation”.

“This feature does stand out from other cases,” Judge Kent said.

But he said the force involved in the crash was “extraordinary” and explained Candice should never have been behind the wheel.

During the fatal 2.1km journey from the Currumbin Vikings Surf Life Saving Club to Thrower Dve in Palm Beach, Judge Kent said the car Candice drove became airborne over a speed bump, drove on a footpath, “hooned” over the speed limit, went up a median strip and over a sign before finally hitting a pole.

“During this terrible journey a number of things would have happened that should have tipped her off to the fact she should not be driving,” Judge Kent said.

“It’s an extraordinary degree of damage isn’t it? It’s unusual to have a car sheered in half.

“I’ve not seen a case where the force is such that a 4WD is sheered in half.”