Montana Robyn Jorgie Xavier: Jail for young driver who killed pedestrian in Derby while intoxicated

A young driver who was initially spared an immediate jail term after fatally striking a pedestrian while drug and alcohol-affected in WA’s north has been sent behind bars. Montana Robyn Jorgie Xavier was 19 when she hit a 45-year-old female pedestrian on Jetty Road in Derby on the night of December 6, 2023. The woman suffered critical injuries and died at the scene. Xavier faced a manslaughter charge at one stage but pleaded guilty in 2024 to dangerous driving occasioning death under the influence of alcohol and drugs, after prosecutors decided that was the best way to proceed with the case. The now 22-year-old was in March last year handed a term of imprisonment of two years, conditionally suspended for 18 months. But she then went on to breach the conditions by reoffending - contravening a family violence restraining order and possessing 10 tablets of LSD. “The law is that I have to order that you serve the two-year term I imposed unless circumstances ... would make it unjust to do so,” District Court Judge Gary Massey said. Xavier had also breached the conditions by failing to attend Kimberley Mental Health and Drug Services as directed, and was using methylamphetamine, he noted. “You continue to be unaware of the importance of complying with the orders,” Judge Massey said. “Your referrals for interventions have been closed because of your non-engagement. “When I put you on the order, I asked you whether you were prepared to comply with it. “And it was a condition of the order that you do it.” He ultimately decided it would be unjust to make Xavier serve the full two years, noting she had complied positively with her conditions early on, spent 15 days in custody, was still very young and had a trauma-marred upbringing. “Ultimately there is no option but to order that you spend some time in custody,” Judge Massey said. “Ten months’ imprisonment, eligible for parole.”