Events

A mother of four is jailed for life after leading police on a “frightening” and “shocking” high-speed chase through Perth’s southern suburbs that ended with the death of a motorcyclist.

A drug-affected mother of four has been jailed for life after leading police on a “frightening” and “shocking” high-speed chase through Perth’s southern suburbs that ended with the death of a motorcyclist.
Key points:

  • Kylee King was on the wrong side of the road when she hit Jordan Thorsager
  • She had led police on a 40-munite chase through southern Perth
  • Justice Bruno Fiannaca said her driving was “frightening and highly dangerous”

Kylee Michelle Tiraroa Fay King, 36, pleaded guilty to murdering Jordan Thorsager, 24, who suffered fatal injuries when her car slammed into him on Leach Highway in Welshpool in the early hours of February 14 last year.
King, who had methylamphetamine and amphetamine in her system, was on the wrong side of the road and other motorists ahead of Mr Thorsager had been forced to take evasive action to avoid being hit.
After colliding with Mr Thorsager, she jumped from the still-moving car and tried to flee the scene, but was arrested.
Just before the crash, King was estimated to be travelling about 75 kilometres per hour, but at other times in the 40-minute chase she was driving at speeds of about 140kph.
Car deliberately driven on wrong side
During the chase King went through red lights and stop signs, and also repeatedly crossed onto the wrong side of major roads something she admitted doing deliberately to force police to abandon their chase, which they did on five occasions.
The Supreme Court heard she told officers after the fatal collision: “It’s your fault, you shouldn’t have been chasing me.”
King was trying to throw off chasing police cars before the fatal crash.(ABC News: James Carmody)
In a video-recorded interview, she also claimed the officers had “obviously wanted to f*** me up, and they did f*** me good, didn’t they?”
But Justice Bruno Fiannaca said the fatal collision was entirely King’s responsibility and was “the culmination” of her “shocking course of reckless behaviour” over a 40-minute period.
Justice Fiannaca said he had viewed dashcam footage taken from a police vehicle and a civilian car King had driven towards, which showed her manner of driving to be “frightening and highly dangerous”.
He said several cars had been forced to take evasive action to avoid being hit including a taxi, which narrowly missed being struck head-on in the moments before the fatal collision.
Kylee King’s car had veered to the wrong side of the road when she hit Mr Thorsager.(ABC News: James Carmody)
Justice Fiannaca accepted that King was now remorseful and sorry for what she had done, but he said on that night she had shown “a callous and blatant disregard for human life and the safety of other road users”.
King, who had been in custody since her arrest, will face at least 13 years in jail before she can be considered for release.
She is likely to be deported to her native New Zealand when she finishes her sentence.
Family satisfied with sentence
Outside the court, Mr Thorsager’s father, Alan, said his family did not hold any animosity toward King.
“We’re satisfied with the outcome,” he said.
“We’ve still got no bitterness or any anger towards Kylee, you know, she did what she did.
“She’s even written us an apology letter for what she’s done.
“It’s never going to bring Jordan back, but for her to accept responsibility for her own actions, for us is like a closed door.
“I’m not sure what closure actually is, but for her to say sorry for what she’s done is something we wanted all along.”