An 11-year prison sentence has been imposed on a drunk driver who crashed and then abandoned his partner to die in Perth.
On April 12, of last year, in Balga, Jahleel Berryman, 28, was driving a stolen BMW when he ran a red light at 127 km/h.
After hitting another vehicle, the car overturned.
Berryman left his companion, Kerry Bodney, 31, to die and left the scene on foot.
Craig Bodney, her brother, claimed, “My sister was dying, looking for her lover and he ran away like a coward.”
“He’s not a man.”
Two more travellers suffered critical injuries.
Berryman was intoxicated on meth and cannabis and operating an illegal vehicle.
His fellow travellers had been yelling for him to reduce speed.
Judge Bruno Fiannaca called it “the most egregious kind of dangerous driving,” noting that Berryman had disregarded his companions’ clear fear for their lives.
Berryman received an 11-year prison term today; after serving nine years, he will be eligible for parole.
After his release, he will also be prohibited from driving for ten years.
“She was a good person, kind-hearted, gave this boy everything she had,” Bodney added.
“He didn’t appreciate it, to leave her dying on the side of the road,” Following the terrible death of her two-year-old son, Robert, by shaking in 2012 at the hands of her then-partner Wayne Murray Narkle, Bodney’s family has now suffered manslaughter.
