Mitchell Laidlaw to serve three months in jail for culpable driving that killed Sue Salthouse

Mitchell Ryan Laidlaw, 35, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday to two years and three months in jail over a July 2020 crash that killed Sue Salthouse.

Chief Justice Lucy McCallum ordered the Evatt man to serve three months behind bars before the balance of the sentence is suspended.

She also disqualified Laidlaw from driving for two years from the date of his release.

Laidlaw had previously pleaded guilty to charges of culpable driving causing death and drug-driving, admitting he had methamphetamine in his system at the time of the crash.

In sentencing, Chief Justice McCallum said Ms Salthouse, 71, had been riding her wheelchair-accessible motorcycle on Commonwealth Avenue on the afternoon in question.

Laidlaw, who was speeding behind Ms Salthouse, rear-ended the ACT Senior Australian of the Year's vehicle, causing her head to strike the bonnet of his Nissan Navara utility.

Chief Justice McCallum said it was agreed that Laidlaw caused the crash through "momentary inattention or misjudgment", with his excessive speed contributing to his negligence.

The judge said emergency services personnel who attended the scene spoke to a "disoriented" Ms Salthouse, who later died in hospital from injuries sustained in the crash.

Members of Ms Salthouse's family read victim impact statements to the court on a previous occasion, and Chief Justice McCallum said they revealed the devastating repercussions of the 71-year-old's death "in painful detail".

She extracted passages from each of the five statements, including that of Ms Salthouse's daughter, Luisa Fearnside, who said: "Mum wasn't done making the world a better place."

"The death of Ms Salthouse has clearly left a gaping hole in the lives of her loved ones and the broader community," Chief Justice McCallum said.

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Laidlaw's sentence proceedings took several months because he firstly failed to attend appointments with ACT Corrective Services, then committed more crimes while on bail.

Chief Justice McCallum said Laidlaw's most recent offences, which included more drug-driving and also driving while suspended, showed the Evatt man's life had "spiralled" as a result of an illicit substance addiction he had been trying to hide.

Laidlaw was remanded in custody after his most recent crimes, on July 9, and the judge ultimately backdated his jail term to begin on that date to account for time already served.

He will therefore be released from the Alexander Maconochie Centre on October 8, when he will be placed on a good behaviour order for the remainder of his sentence.

"During the good behaviour bond, if you find yourself arrested for drug-driving again, you'll be in a world of pain," Chief Justice McCallum told Laidlaw.

The judge also made a restorative justice referral after Laidlaw, whose "significant remorse" she acknowledged, expressed interest in meeting Ms Salthouse's family to atone for his role in the 71-year-old's death.

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