A SOLDIER in the Australian army has been jailed for 15 months after causing the death of a woman in a motorcycle accident on the Perth foreshore.
Giles Nelson Graham, 24, had been drinking before he took Carli Rustand on a motorcycle ride on her 24th birthday, and the pair hurtled along Riverside Drive at speeds between 81km/h and 116km/h.
Graham, who served two tours in Afghanistan after being fast-tracked to the Duntroon Academy aged just 19, recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.107 after the crash on March 4 last year, which also left him severely injured.
He was charged with dangerous driving in circumstances which resulted in a death and driving with a blood alcohol content above 0.08. He pleaded guilty last November.
Magistrate Dianne Scaddan said despite Graham's remorse, the tragic consequences of his decision to ride with Ms Rustand were too serious to allow him to walk free.
"This was not a case of momentary inattention," she said.
Graham will be eligible for parole after serving half his sentence.
He is now facing an involuntary discharge from the army, where his superiors had previously singled him out for his leadership qualities.
Australian Defence Force officials were in court to hear the verdict.
At the sentencing hearing on Friday, defence lawyer Laurie Levy told the magistrate that Graham had taken full responsibility for the crash and the death of Ms Rustand.
"I am never going to forgive myself," Graham told a court official compiling a pre-sentence report.
"How can I be a good man when I have got so much blood on my hands?"
The Perth Magistrates Court was told Graham had been involved in 15 major firefights in Afghanistan, during which three Australian soldiers and one American serviceman died.
He was a commander of a protective mobility vehicle in the war zone in his final tour of duty, the court was told.
He was on leave at the time of the accident, which happened on the first night the pair had met.
After a meal at a Chinese restaurant, followed by several hours at a karaoke bar, the pair carried on the party at South Perth with friends, where they set off on the Harley-Davidson.
Graham suffered three neck fractures, three spinal fractures, three cranial fractures and bleeding on the brain which prompted doctors to place him in an induced coma.
After he recovered, Graham wrote to Ms Rustand's family to apologise for his part in her death.
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