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Adelaide lawyer guilty of fatal hit-and-run
A claim by an Adelaide lawyer that she did not see the 70-year-old victim of a hit-and-run was rejected by a District Court judge.
Naomi Neilson
Lawyer Lauren Jean Willgoose, 31, was found guilty in the District Court of South Australia late last week on one count of aggravated death caused by dangerous driving and one count of leaving an accident scene after causing death by careless driving.
Her name still appears on The Law Society of South Australia’s register of practising certificates, without restrictions or conditions.
At 9.55pm on 30 June 2021, after consuming more than 1.5 litres of wine, Willgoose left the Goodwood Park Hotel in the city, drove 350 metres, and struck Anthony Walsh as he crossed the road.
Willgoose claimed she did not see Walsh and had continued her drive home because she thought the sound of the collision was due to her car window “hitting another car window”.
Although Willgoose said she saw damage to her vehicle when she arrived home, she went inside and continued drinking.
Walsh died of his injuries at Adelaide Hospital on 9 July 2021.
Following a judge-alone trial, Judge Nicolas Alexandrides said the evidence established Willgoose must have seen Walsh, especially given the stretch of road was familiar to her, and the businesses on either side were “open, operating and illuminated”.
“The accused must have been aware that the person was struck by her vehicle and thrown across the bonnet of her vehicle, causing a very loud and audible bang.
“She would have been aware from those factors that her vehicle struck the person with considerable force and likely causing the person serious injury or death,” Judge Alexandrides said.
While Walsh had made the “poor decision” to cross the road when he did, Judge Alexandrides said the law recognises a “prudent driver” must look out for immediate and potential danger.
Willgoose claimed she became aware of her involvement around 5.28am in the morning after reading online news reports.
After an early morning call with a partner at her firm and another with a solicitor from Caldicott + Isaacs Lawyers, Willgoose surrendered herself to the police from their office.
Judge Alexandrides said it was “inherently implausible” Willgoose had been checking online news before 5.28am and happened across an article about the collision, “apparently having no thought that she was involved in a serious collision”.
“When one takes into account the loud sound caused by the deceased’s body being struck by the car, the conclusion must have been that she was involved in a serious collision.
“I do not accept her evidence that she was not so aware,” Judge Alexandrides said.
The case is R v Willgoose [2024] SADC 158 (5 December 2024).
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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