Family heartache after woman avoids jail over fatal crash

Katie Deborah Robertson's family with her ashes. Photo / Luisa Girao

A woman charged over a crash which killed a 21-year-old Invercargill woman has avoided jail time.

Corrina Petersen was sentenced today in the Invercargill District Court over a crash on Old Coach Rd, also known as State Highway 93, in Otaraia, which killed Katie Deborah Robertson in February this year.

Petersen was charged with aggravated careless driving causing death over the crash and was today sentenced to 250 hours community work and six months of conditional supervision, which includes a requirement to undergo counselling.

She is also required to pay reparations of $18,000 to the family of the victim and disqualified from driving for 18 months.

The court head Ms Robertson was on her way to pick up a friend before going to a best friends wedding when she was killed in the crash.

Eight people, including her siblings, mother and father and boyfriend gave victim impact statements.

The family brought Ms Robertson's ashes and a frame picture of her to court with them for the sentencing.

Her mother Cathy Robertson said she was unsure if she could live her life "fully" without her daughter.

Katie Robertson was described as generous and was always the baby of the family.

Her boyfriend Brodie Burridge said they had talked about getting married and having children before she died.