Brief stay for teen charged with murder over fatal car crash
The sentencing of a Queensland teenager who was charged with murder over a crash that claimed the lives of Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter has been delayed.
Matthew Field, aged 37, and Kate Leadbetter, aged 31 – who was six months pregnant - were walking their dogs in Alexandra Hills, southeast of Brisbane, on Australia Day in 2021 when a four-wheel-drive ploughed into them.
It was alleged that the driver – a boy of 17 at the time of the accident who cannot be named because of his age – ran a red light in a LandCruiser. He collied with a truck before the car rolled and hit the couple.
The couple died at the scene and it was alleged the teen fled before stealing keys from a nearby house.
He was arrested by police and set to be sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday June 7.
At the time of his arrest the teen was charged with two counts of murder, offences relating to dangerous driving while under the influence of an intoxicant, failing to fulfil duties at the scene of a crash, wilful damage and burglary.
However, at the hearing on June 7, Justice Martin Burns delayed submissions due to legislation requiring a biological parent of the teen to be in attendance.
He ordered the teen's mother attend court, adjourning the hearing until she arrives.
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