A man is alleged to have driven into the car of 36-year-old Samantha Holmes, causing her death. Photo: Albert McKnight.
Police believe a man was driving dangerously south of Canberra, almost causing several collisions, before he allegedly hit and killed 36-year-old Samantha Holmes in a fatal crash.
Newly obtained court documents outline the disturbing allegations against the 39-year-old Pakistani man from the ACT suburb of Charnwood, who is expected to be charged over her death.
Region has not named him for the time being because while he briefly faced the ACT Magistrates Court earlier this week, he was then taken to hospital for a mental health assessment.
It is believed he left his family home on Saturday (28 February) in his silver Toyota Prado to drive to Thredbo.
At around 9:30 pm, a driver claimed he was driving on Kosciusko Road with his 10-year-old daughter when a silver Prado drove head-on towards him, before swerving at the last second.
The Prado then did a U-Turn and repeated this several times before the driver hid in a parking lot in Berridale and called police.
Then, at around 11:30 pm, another person said they were driving on Jindabyne Road when a silver Prado, with its headlights off, made a U-turn and sped head-on towards them, forcing them to swerve to avoid a collision.
A similar incident occurred with another driver about half an hour later on the Monaro Highway, when she said a 4WD with no headlights sped head-on towards her and she had to pull over to avoid a crash.
Police said shortly after midnight, Ms Holmes was driving her Mazda CX5 on the highway about 15 km south of Michelago when the man allegedly drove onto her side of the road and crashed into her car.
“The accused provided no opportunity for the deceased to evade the collision,” police allege.
When both cars came to rest on the highway, Ms Holmes was trapped in the wreckage. A passerby called for help, and paramedics tried to provide her with aid when they arrived, but she was pronounced dead at the scene due to her injuries.
It’s alleged that the man climbed out of his car and tried to flee after the crash. When police found him 500 metres away in a paddock around 10:30 am that same morning, he told them he’d been sleeping in a nearby dry creek bed.
He was taken to the Canberra Hospital with a suspected broken ankle.
“Police alleged the accused drove in a manner dangerous to other road users, both in the lead up to the collision over several hours and at the time of the crash,” police claimed in the documents.
“The accused drove no less than 750 metres on a straight section of road, with his headlights turned off, knowing a vehicle was approaching in the oncoming direction.
“The accused drove across the centrelines and into the oncoming vehicle at speed, resulting in the collision.”
As no brake marks were attributed to the man’s car, police were investigating the crash as an “intentional act”.
The man is expected to be charged with dangerous driving occasioning death.
He was still in Canberra Hospital undergoing the mental health assessment on Friday (6 March), but will return to the ACT Magistrates Court in the future.
It is expected an extradition application will then be made to take him to NSW to face his charge.
Original Article published by Albert McKnight on Region Canberra.
