Speeding driver on drugs given 10 years for killing innocent grandmother
A driver high on drugs and in a stolen car will spend at least a decade in jail for killing an innocent grandmother.
Edita Alegre was driving with her husband when a car ran a red light, hit them and then drove off.
Jordan Conte was behind the wheel and will now be behind bars until 2025.
The fatal collision occurred three days before Christmas 2014 when Conte, banned from driving for five years, ploughed a stolen Landcruiser into the Alegre’s Toyota Yaris at Pendle Hill.
Tragically, Edita didn't die immediately, but passed while holding the hand of her husband of 33 years.
"I lost everything now, I lost my wife, I lost my job,” Edita’s heartbroken husband said outside court.
After almost three years of denying he was responsible, on Friday morning Jordan Conte finally handed the judge a note admitting it was him behind the wheel.
The judge said he was skeptical Conte had ever been remorseful, from the night when he fled the scene in a cowardly fashion to the jury trial where he continued to plead not guilty.
Conte's barrister told the court his client has suffered, spending his 21st birthday in jail.
However on Friday, outside court, Edita Alegre's family spoke about what she has missed.
“She missed out on my wedding, missed out on two granddaughters to the family, she missed out on birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas - our Christmas is never going to be the same,” her tearful son Sancho told reporters.
Outside court on Friday a less than impressed Conte demanded news crews “have some respect, mate!”
He also demanded media outlets turn off their cameras as he yelled profanities.
While Conte will be able to apply for parole in 2025, the Alegre family know no amount of jail time will bring Edita back.
"For what he's done to my family, it changes a lot, changes everything,” her husband said fighting back tears outside court on Friday.
