Family remembers fatal crash victim Christine Stewart in court

What should have been a trip filled with laughter and fun was upended, and the "world collapsed" for a family, after a fatal decision on the Murray Valley Highway at Torrumbarry.

That decision killed a beloved daughter, mother, sister and friend.

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Heartbroken family members of Christine Stewart, who was 29-years-old when she died, have told the County Court sitting in Bendigo of that huge loss in a series of victim impact statements.

These were read out at the plea hearing where Rebecca Hall, 30, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death on January 25, 2022. She has been remanded in custody awaiting sentencing.

Hall, who the court found had used Instagram on her phone immediately before the crash, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing in November.

In a packed courtroom, a statement from Christine's mother Belinda Hackney asked, "why my baby girl?"

She described being left "broken" by the death of her first-born daughter.

Christine's father Robert Hackney recalled being on the water with his grandchildren, his daughter's three young children, when he heard a high pitched scream coming from his son.

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Mr Hackney described arriving at the scene shortly after, the intersection being just up the road from the camping group, and seeing his daughter "still upside down in the car".

He recalled that police had told the family not to approach Christine, as the hot sun blared down.

His victim impact statement asked what sort of phone call could be as important as his daughter's life.

"I want her footprint on this earth to mean something," he said.

He said he wanted to send a message about the dangers of driving.

Christine's step-mother Michelle Hackney described their relationship at the time of the collision as "close to perfect".

She also described trying to pretend "everything was fine" for her grandchildren as her heart was pounding with fear.

The family ultimately had to pack up, getting new car seats for the children as the others had been destroyed in the crash and leaving using the only road out of the campground.

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That same road passed through the site of the collision and Christine's step-mother described trying to distract the children by telling them to look out for kangaroos, sheep and cows.

Michelle said the family would fight so Christine's "legacy lives on".

Michael Hackney described his sister as a "fantastic mother" and the "first person to help anyone who needed it".

To chuckles in the courtroom, he said he would miss laughing at his sister "not getting up on the wakeboard" or her comments about many calories were in his dim sims and beer.

Ebony Papageorge, Christine's sister-in-law, was travelling with her in the car and was injured in the crash.

Ms Papageorge spoke of losing the ability "to have fun and let go", dealing with anxiety, PTSD and nightmares about the incident.

She said driving was hard because she would always be "hoping everyone else is being responsible".

Ms Papageorge said she still lived with injuries - particularly to her wrist - that affected her daily.

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She has assisted with the care of Christine's three children and said they loved pointing to all the photos of "mummy" on the wall.

Ms Papageorge's mother Kerry also spoke and said, directly to Hall, "how dare your inattention affect my family like this?"

Finally, Christine's former husband and the father of her children, Bradley Stewart spoke - showing a slideshow of pictures of his children.

He said she had missed out on so many milestones - first days at school and kinder, and those yet to come like marriages and grandchildren.

One photo shown to the court featured the three youngsters each carrying a silver-foil letter balloon at Christine's memorial spelling out mum.

Judge Geoffrey Chettle acknowledged that cases of this nature were tragic for all involved.

The accused, Rebecca Jane Hall, 30, was employed by Nutrien Ag Echuca, and driving home from work, on the day of the accident.

The court heard before the crash, Hall made a call lasting 15 minutes and 59 seconds.

In the final minute before the crash, Hall sent a text to her husband and opened and closed Instagram.

The first person to call 000, a member of the public, did so 17 seconds later.

Judge Chettle acknowledged Hall was remorseful.

She was described as being "upset and hysterical" at the scene, telling Ms Papageorge she was sorry and she hadn't seen them.

The court also heard she had since said she wished it had been her that had died and she had presented a "heartfelt" letter to the court that Christine's family could read if they chose to.

Judge Chettle also acknowledged Hall had an otherwise flawless record, and was supplied with more than 20 positive references, but said a custodial sentence was mandatory unless there were exceptional circumstances.

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