Family calls sentence 'ropeable' after driver gets home detention for fatal motorbike crash

The family members of a man who was struck by a car and killed at a busy intersection while riding his motorbike home from work have said they are "ropeable" after a judge sentenced the woman behind the wheel to two months home detention and 180 hours of community service.

Stephanie Akehurst pleaded guilty in the Darwin Local Court in July to careless driving (which carries a maximum penalty of two years jail), failing to give way, and driving with a drug in her system.

It was daytime, the road was dry and Ms Akehurst, who was 28 at the time, was driving north on Chung Wah Terrace towards a busy intersection in Palmerston at 30 kilometres an hour.

In handing down his sentence on Friday afternoon, Judge Steven Ledek said it was a moment of careless inattention on the road in 2024 that resulted in the tragic loss of 56-year-old Anthony Hobden, a beloved father and husband and well-known member of the Northern Territory's motorsport community.

He said Ms Akehurst turned right and failed to give way before colliding with Mr Hobden, throwing him into the air "before coming to rest on the road".

He died at the scene.

"This was not anticipated. This was not planned. This was not something that anyone wanted to happen," the judge said.

"Every single day there are close calls but on this occasion that inattention led to a death.

"She was not speeding, she was not grossly intoxicated … she had no criminal history whatsoever."

Judge Ledek made particular note of the fact that Mr Hobden's family wanted Ms Akehurst to face jail time.

"I go back to what [Mr Hobden's partner] Gabrielle had to say in terms of what she wanted as an outcome for today," he told the court.

"She said [she] would like to see her go to jail, not for the rest of her life, but there has to be a consequence for killing someone.

"In my view, in my mind … I think Stephanie is in a jail already.

Outside court, Mr Hobden's family members were visibly emotional and incensed by what they described as an inadequate sentence.

"I'm ropeable … it's an absolute insult," Mr Hobden's partner, Gabrielle Johnson, said.

"[Two months at home is] disgraceful.

"Anthony's life was worth more than two months to go home and watch DVDs."

According to agreed facts tendered in court, Ms Akehurst admitted to smoking cannabis the night before the collision but returned a negative roadside drug and alcohol test.

Subsequent blood tests detected a small amount of cannabis in her system, which prosecutors said had a minor adverse effect on her driving.

The court heard Mr Hobden's blood contained a cannabis concentration about three times higher, though there was no evidence it contributed to the crash.

'I'm profoundly sorry,' Ms Akehurst says

On Friday, Judge Ledek read aloud Ms Akehurst's apology letter to the family, in which she said she was "profoundly sorry" and recognised her mistake had devastating consequences.

She said she had not been able to drive since the incident and had spent countless hours replaying the moment before the collision.

"This tragedy has changed me completely," the court heard.

The court heard Ms Akehurst had been using cannabis to self-medicate after she injured her back moving heavy objects to help her pregnant friend two years ago.

In handing down his sentence, Judge Ledek acknowledged that no sentence could compensate for the loss of a life, but he believed it was "appropriate in all circumstances".

"This is the lesson for everybody in our community who's driving … you must drive like your life is depending on it because everybody else's is too," he said.

Ms Akehurst was also ordered to pay the family $7,770 in restitution, to wear an ankle monitor and to continue her current psychological treatment.