Driver guilty of murdering pedestrian

The father of a young man mowed down by a driver after cheese balls were thrown at
her car says her actions were evil, savage and predatory.
But Nigel Westlake also expressed sorrow for Sarah May Ward, who was found guilty on
Friday of murdering his 21-year-old son, Eli.
Ward, 38, who was fuelled by drugs and alcohol at the time of the impact, sobbed in
the dock of the NSW Supreme Court after the verdict.
She had pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Westlake in the early hours of June 7,
2008 in the northern Sydney suburb of St Leonards.
In rejecting her guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter, the crown
contended she stalked and deliberately ran down Mr Westlake in revenge for his
having thrown the cheese balls.
Outside court, Mr Westlake said his son's life had been taken "by a complete
stranger in a savage act of brutal violence, an act laden with evil intent, an act
that can only be described as disturbingly predatory in nature".
He noted evidence from a witness who referred to Eli's actions after he realised
he'd upset Ward and her passenger when he jokingly threw the cheese balls.
"Eli attempted to apologise for his actions while using his jumper to try and remove
the cheese balls from the bonnet of the car," his father said.
"This was the last thing of the young man that we will remember, the Eli who was
always trying to make things right, to do the proper thing by his fellow man."
Mr Westlake said his family felt "great sorrow" for Ward, saying it was a "lose-lose
situation for everybody".
Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Wilkins SC said Ward had used "her car as a weapon",
twice aiming it at Mr Westlake.
Ward told police that rather than the incident being sparked by cheese balls, it
began when a group of men yelled at her and her passenger, William Long, before
attacking them.
But members of Mr Westlake's group said Ward was the aggressor and they had walked
away after she fell to the ground in a laneway.
Eli's older brother, Joel Westlake, described Ward's behaviour as "quite mad" saying
she had punched and kicked him, while yelling obscenities.
Ae he left the laneway, his last words to his brother were: "Watch out for the
vehicle."
He ran towards his nearby house, but stopped and "heard the sound of a car revving
repeatedly and then I heard a crash".
He ran back and saw the car had crashed down a set of stairs and his friends were
"quite hysterical".
When he learnt his brother was under the car, he ran to the front and "I tried to
lift it off him".
Unable to, he then "did my best to crawl under the front of the car to be with my
brother and to try and assess how injured he was".
He could feel his brother's hand, as his jumper became soaked with his blood.
Justice Roderick Howie will hear sentencing submissions on April 8.