Mountain Views
Mail Covering the foothills of the Yarra Ranges & Murrindindi Shires
5 Tuesday, 16 August, 2016
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Adult prison term By Jesse Graham A TEENAGER has been sentenced to five years in adult prison over the August 2015 crash that killed 16-year-old Yarra Glen boy Cooper Ratten. The 18-year-old man, who was 17 at the time of the crash and cannot be named, was sentenced to five years in jail with a non-parole period of three years by County Court Judge Howard Mason on Friday 12 August. The man pleaded guilty to culpable driving causing death in an April court hearing for the crash, which took place on Glenview Road in Yarra Glen on Sunday 16 August. The man was driving a stolen Volkswagen Tiguan at around 100km/h through dense fog with no headlights on while under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he failed to negotiate a bend on the road and crashed, flipping the car end-on-end. Cooper, who was the rear passenger and not wearing a seatbelt at the time, was thrown 65 metres from the car and died at the scene. Judge Mason said the driver broke his neck in the crash and narrowly avoided becoming quadriplegic, but had now recovered from his injuries. In his sentencing remarks, Judge Mason said that, despite an early guilty plea and a high chance of rehabilitation, the man had a “significant moral culpability” over the crash and would receive an adult sentence. He said that Cooper, the driver and a friend had been drinking at the friend’s house prior to a function at the Yarra Glen Football Clubrooms on the night of Saturday 15 August. The group then went to the clubrooms and drank more alcohol “prior to and at the function“, before returning to the friend’s house with others at 12.15am, Sunday 16 August. About 2am, the trio went to drive a car which belonged to another friend’s sister, but were stopped by another man and the driver’s brother, who took and hid the car keys, calling the group “idiots“ and warning the group not to take the car and not to drive. Just before 3am the group found the car keys and stole the car, heading out on the ill-fated drive. At the time of the crash, the man had MDMA (ecstasy) in his system and had a blood alcohol content of 0.084 - over the limit for fully-licensed drivers. Cotinued on page 3
Healesville High School students Isabelle, Hannah and Waularna, pictured with director Trent Morison, will perform in Legally Blonde Picture: ROB CAREW the Musical. 157979
Blonde beauty
PREPARE for a new spin on a much-loved story, with Healesville High School presenting their production of Legally Blonde the Musical from next Thursday night. The musical, an adaptation of the 2001 comedy movie Legally Blonde, opens at 7pm on Thursday 25 August, for a weekend of shows at the Healesville High School’s Ion Whykes Theatre. Healesville High School students Isabelle, Hannah and Waularna, pictured with director Trent Morison, will perform in the musical, which tells the story of Elle Woods, who goes to Harvard Law School to try and win back her ex-boyfriend. Mr Morison said the crew of about 45 past and present Healesville High School students had been working on the production since February. For the full story, turn to page 7.
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