A British backpacker pleaded guilty to killing a man in Perth, Australia, by striking him while riding an electric scooter drunk.
Alicia Kemp, 25, from Redditch in Worcestershire, admitted to dangerous driving causing death while under the influence of alcohol during an appearance, via video link, at the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday.
Prosecutors dropped a second charge of dangerous driving causing bodily harm to her passenger.
Dangerous driving causing death while intoxicated carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years in Australia.
Ms Kemp had been drinking with a friend on 31 May before the pair were ejected from a bar. Later that evening, she hired an e-scooter and was travelling at 20-25kmph when she collided with Thanh Phan, a structural engineer, from behind.
Mr Phan, 51, described by relatives as a “beloved husband, father of two, brother, and dear friend”, suffered a serious head injury and died in hospital several days later from a brain bleed.
Ms Kemp’s female passenger, 26, sustained a fractured skull and broken nose, but survived. She herself suffered minor injuries.
The court previously heard that Ms Kemp’s blood alcohol reading was 0.158 – more than three times the legal limit of 0.05.
Prosecutors said CCTV footage showed her “inexplicably dangerous” riding moments before the accident.
Speaking outside the court, defence lawyer Michael Tudori said his client, as a “young foreign national girl in our prison system”, was “nervous and worried” but relieved the secondary charge had been dropped.
“She’s obviously done something stupid at the time,” he said, “there’s consequences, and she just wants to get on with her life.”
The collision made Mr Phan the first pedestrian in Western Australia to die in an e-scooter incident, prompting Perth’s city council and other local governments to suspend hire schemes.
Western Australian law requires e-scooter riders to be over 16, wear a helmet, be sober and not carry any passenger.
Ms Kemp, who was in Australia on a working holiday visa, remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in the court for sentencing proceedings on 31 October. Her lawyer said he’d like the sentencing process to be completed before Christmas, adding that her family in the UK was worried.
