A seasonal farm worker who killed his ex-girlfriend in a "catastrophic" drunken crash months after being ordered to stay away from her says he is heartbroken over her death.
Rolong Stanley, a 31-year-old from Vanuatu, has pleaded guilty to aggravated dangerous driving causing death over the crash that killed 42-year-old Justine Hammond near Orange, in central-western NSW.
The ute Stanley was driving spun out of control and slammed into a tree on the winding Lake Canobolas Road on the afternoon of February 9, 2025.
The mother-of-two, who had previously been in a relationship with Stanley, was dead when paramedics arrived and there was "catastrophic" damage to the ute, including a caved-in roof.
Court documents showed a final apprehended domestic violence order protecting Ms Hammond was made in November 2024, with conditions including Stanley stay 500m from her.
But in the hours before the crash, the pair drank cask wine in Stanley's ute at a large apple orchard.
Nearly four kilometres from the orchard, Stanley lost control on a slight right-hand bend and the ute smashed roof-first into the tree.
Stanley was flown to Westmead Hospital and a blood-alcohol analysis showed he would have been in the range of 0.212.
He was also a disqualified driver, who had never held a licence, and was subject to an Intensive Correction Order that prohibited him from drinking alcohol.
Stanley told a prison psychologist of his remorse over Ms Hammond's death, public defender Ian Nash told a sentencing hearing in the NSW District Court in Orange on Monday.
"(He was) sad and heartbroken upon learning of her death," Mr Nash said, reading from the psychologist's report.
Crown prosecutor Craig Evans said Stanley's moral culpability was increased due to the presence of the AVO and being a disqualified driver.
"He should not have been driving and he knew it," Mr Evans said.
Judge Penny Musgrave said she was considering the risk Stanley posed to not only Ms Hammond, but other cars using the road that links wineries, restaurants and a busy recreational lake.
While Mr Nash agreed, he said there was no evidence Stanley was driving aggressively.
Stanley grew up on the island of Malekula in Vanuatu and came to Australia to work on farms and send money home to his family, Mr Nash said.
He had a limited education, spoke little English and had a level of social isolation while living in the village of Canowindra, south-west of Orange, Mr Nash said.
"He was and is a man who came from another world in many respects," he said.
Stanley was supported in court by an elder from Malekula.
He will be sentenced on September 29.
Charges of breaching the apprehended domestic violence order, negligent driving and high-range drink driving were dismissed when Stanley pleaded guilty.
