Mum ordered off road

By Whitney Harris
Updated November 7 2012 - 1:04am, first published December 6 2009 - 10:27am

A BENDIGO mother who crashed her car while drunk has been ordered off the road for four years.Kylie Gellel, 34, was also ordered to complete 75 hours of unpaid community work after she pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates Court to failing to accompany police to the station for a breath test.The court heard that in March this year, the mother of three got behind the wheel drunk and without a licence.About 250 metres before an intersection, Gellel slammed on the brakes, causing the car to skid for 70 metres, jump a median strip and hit two trees.Prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Len Ladner said both trees were snapped off as a result of the impact.Gellel’s car continued to skid for another 20 metres before coming to a stop in the opposite lane, he said.Police were called to the scene, but Gellel refused to undergo a preliminary breath test.She also failed to accompany police to the station, despite appearing intoxicated.Defence lawyer Robert Timms told the court that at the time of the accident Gellel had been going through an extremely tough custody battle and had recently been notified that her daily contact with her children had been cut to fortnightly visits.He also said her alcohol consumption at the time was “out of control” and that she had “literally given up hope”.However, Mr Timms did say that the collision had refocused Gellel and that she had began to make substantial changes to her life.Magistrate Bruce Cottrill told Gellel the matter was extremely serious and that she was lucky to be alive.“It’s fortunate you didn’t kill yourself or any other person,” he said.Mr Cottrill sentenced Gellel to a six-month community based order and 75 hours of unpaid community work.He said he hoped Gellel would receive appropriate rehabilitation and treatment while completing the community based order.

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