New Zealander Pamela Clark, inset, died in March last year after her car was hit by the stolen ute, pictured, driven by Alex Smith. Photos / Supplied
New Zealander Pamela Clark, inset, died in March last year after her car was hit by the stolen ute, pictured, driven by Alex Smith. Photos / Supplied
A learner driver has pleaded guilty to causing the death of a New Zealand woman after stealing a ute while drunk.
Alexander Sinclair, 20, pleaded guilty in the County Court of Victoria in Australia on Thursday to charges including culpable driving causing death over a crash that killed 35-year-old New Zealander Pamela Clark at Wallington, near Geelong, Victoria, in March 2017.
The court was told Sinclair had been drinking Coronas and Jagermeisters with friends before the crash, and began acting "weird and sloppy", kicking and punching walls and smashing empty stubbies on the ground.
Clark's damaged car is towed away. Photo / via Ten News
After hitting another man in the head with a light tube, Sinclair stole a ute and hit two cars, one of them Clark's as she was driving home from work after midnight.
She and partner Gus Burns lived in Bellarine Peninsula, south-west of Melbourne.
"We were together for 8 and a half years, we met while working in Queensland. I'm so lucky to have had that time with her," Burns told news.com.au last year after the fatal crash.
"She came here because I moved back and fell in love with the area too."
The pair moved from Queensland to Melbourne where she was front of house assistant manager at Vue de Monde, before family brought them back to the Bellarine Peninsula.
Clark's mother Sue Ogle, who shared a birthday with her daughter, said while Whangarei in New Zealand was where she came from, the Bellarine Peninsula was her home.
Early Sunday morning we lost a dear friend, colleague, and beautiful soul, Pam Clark. Pam was the backbone and manager...
"She was bubbly and she had an infectious laugh. She'd run on the beach at Ocean Grove every morning with her crazy German short-haired pointer Pippa so lots of people would have known her from down there," Ogle told news.com.au last year. "She was so dedicated to helping everyone else and working hard, that's what makes this so hard.
Pamela Clark and partner Gus Burns lived on the Bellarine Peninsula. Photo / via Facebook
"It's just not fair. This is worse than heartbreak for us all."
Brother Russell Clark said his little sister always looked on the bright side of life.
"It's the people that make a place, and she found her people," he said.
Clark's mother Sue Ogle said: 'She was bubbly and she had an infectious laugh'. Photo / via Facebook
Oakdene executive chef Marty Chichester said Clark was a beautiful soul who had become a part of his family during her three and a half years as restaurant manager.
"Pam was a special person and it takes a special person to be in this industry. You have to wear a lot of hats in this business and she had a wealth of knowledge from food to wine," he said last year.
"More than anything she was a presence, there was a presence about that lady and she always said to me 'Marty I'm here to make your life easier'.
