Qld: Driver who killed girl seeks new licence

AAP General News (Australia)
04-06-2006
Qld: Driver who killed girl seeks new licence

By Daniel Pace

GOLD COAST, April 6 AAP - A woman who drove onto a crowded Gold Coast footpath and
killed a nine-year-old girl will represent herself in a court application to be reissued
with a driver's licence.

Christie Morgan was 18 when she passed out at the wheel after sniffing butane gas and
ploughed into 11 pedestrians on a Surfers Paradise footpath on August 5, 2001.

She killed Teena-Lea Harris, 9, and seriously injured her younger sister Katie, who
suffered minor brain damage.

Morgan was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail and her driver's licence suspended
"absolutely" but she was recommended for parole and served two-and-a-half years.

Under Queensland law she can reapply for her licence after a two-year waiting period,
which expired on April 26, 2004.

Morgan, 23, of Parkwood on the Gold Coast, today appeared in Southport District Court
where she told Judge Ian Dearden she would represent herself at the hearing, set down
for August 14.

Judge Dearden advised Morgan it would be wise for her to seek legal representation
for help in making a "difficult application".

Morgan, who initially blamed the tragedy on a fictitious blue car, must file any affidavits
with the Director of Public Prosecutions by July 31.

Outside court she refused to comment to waiting media and ran to a nearby carpark.

AAP djp/sc/jas/jlw

KEYWORD: MORGAN

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