Two of Vilia Sutherland’s daughters and her sister spoke of their love for her and the grief of her loss, in victim impact statements read during the court appearance of the driver who crashed into her car 11 months ago, killing her.
Lance O’Brien, 31, of Nathalia, pleaded guilty in the Shepparton County Court Koori Court to culpable driving causing death, and a summary charge of contravening a bail condition, after the fatal crash last October.
The court heard O’Brien was likely more than three times the legal alcohol limit, had drugs in his system and was speeding when his Toyota Corolla veered across the Barmah-Shepparton Rd and into the path of Ms Sutherland’s Renault Captur SUV, which was travelling in the opposite direction at about 4.40pm on October 2, 2025.
The mother-of-four and teacher at St Mary’s of the Angel’s Secondary College died in the crash, while one of the three dogs she had in the car with her had to be euthanised due to injuries.
Another of the dogs ran away, while a third was taken to the vet with injuries.
O’Brien was flown to a Melbourne hospital by air ambulance with injuries, and when his blood was tested two hours and 45 minutes after the crash, he recorded a blood alcohol concentration of 0.143.
The prosecutor told the court Dr Jason Schreiber from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine calculated his blood alcohol concentration at the time of the crash as having been between 0.170 and 0.198.
As a P-plater at the time, O’Brien legally should have had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.00.
He also had 0.28 milligrams/litre of methamphetamines in his system, with the prosecutor telling the court Dr Schrieber said the combination of alcohol and drugs would have made him “incapable of having proper control of the vehicle”.
O’Brien was on bail at the time, with conditions including that he did not drive, use drugs or drink alcohol.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, one of Ms Sutherland’s daughters spoke of how her mother was her best friend, biggest supporter and safe place.
“She was a colleague, a sister, an aunty and a friend, and she had a way of lighting up a room,” she said.
She described her mum as kind, selfless and loving, and told of her grief at her missing future milestones in her life.
Addressing O’Brien in her statement, the young woman told him “you chose this for her, and me, and my family”.
“You get to continue with your life … there is nothing I can do to fill the space she left behind because that space is Mum and will always be Mum.”
Another daughter spoke of receiving an alert while at the opposite end of the country from one of her mother’s devices to say a crash had been detected, and then texting and calling her repeatedly with no answer, before finally hearing the news.
“For our family there will always be life before October 2 and life after it,” she said.
“When people ask how my mum died, I tell them she was killed. I don’t say it was an accident.
“The moment you got behind the wheel with almost three times the blood alcohol limit, that was a choice.
“You didn’t simply take my mum away, you took the opportunity for her to grow old surrounded by people she loved.”
Ms Sutherland’s sister told how losing her felt like “a dark hole that squeezes in my heart”.
“The word ‘miss’ is not nearly descriptive enough, because from the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed, she’s on my mind,” she said.
She also spoke of having panic attacks in cars, and how she had to drive past the place where her sister died every time she went to visit her mother or her nieces and nephews.
“There is a huge hole in my heart and it hurts so much,” she said.
“Our family is broken and I cannot fix it.”
Talking with a First Nations elder as part of the Koori Court process, O’Brien told of a seven-year period where he was not on drugs, but that he started using again when his three-year-old nephew died and he could not deal with the grief.
He also read a letter he had penned to the court saying how sorry he was.
“I know I cannot change the past and I will carry that with me for the rest of my life,” he said.
The case was adjourned to later in September where the judge will deal with legal arguments from the prosecution and defence in the matter.
O’Brien continued to be remanded in custody until then.
