Guilty plea

By Tania Martin
A FERNTREE Gully grandmother last week told Ringwood Magistrates’ Court she tried to stop her granddaughter from driving drunk last December.
Antonia Korver said she feared for the life of her then 23-month-old great-grandson, Jayden, as she believed her granddaughter had been drinking.
Amanda Korver appeared before magistrate James Cashmore for a committal hearing.
Ms Korver pleaded guilty to three counts of negligent driving causing serious injury and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Antonia Korver told the 27 May hearing her granddaughter, Amanda Korver, 25 formerly of Mt Evelyn, was visibly upset following a fight with her parents.
“Usually when she is upset she has a drink,” she said.
“I was concerned for both their welfare and tried to get them to stay but Amanda overpowered me and Jayden was upset.”
The court heard that just hours later Ms Korver was in a head-on collision near Mt Evelyn that left Jayden with serious head-injuries.
In documents tendered to the court by prosecutor Jack Vandersteen it was claimed Ms Korver had a blood alcohol reading of 0.098 when she swerved into oncoming traffic on Monbulk Road shortly after 7.20pm on Tuesday 2 December.
In documents tendered to the court police claim Ms Korver clipped one car which ran off the road and hit a pole, before colliding with another oncoming vehicle. Witness Nathan Frost told the court he watched the whole incident unfold.
Under cross-examination from defence counsel James McQuillan, Mr Frost said he feared someone had been killed. “I was shocked …It was the most traumatic thing I have ever seen,” Mr Frost said.
In a statement to police, Mr Frost said he believed the child had been unrestrained.
“The way she pulled the baby out made me think that it was lying across the two front seats and the gear shift, with his head more on the driver’s side,” he said.
“The baby looked to be motionless at the time but I was told later that the baby was alive.”
Ms Korver’s son was airlifted to the Royal Children’s Hospital with severe head-injuries but has since recovered.
In his statement Mr Frost went on to say that following the crash Ms Korver was yelling hysterically.
“I pulled up and sat in my car for a while because I didn’t know if someone had been killed,” he said.
Mr Frost said Ms Korver was yelling, “find him, get the guy who was driving, he’s in the bushes.”
In documents tendered to the court police claim Ms Korver later denied driving. She told police that her then boyfriend, Michael Di Palma, 22, had been driving.
Ms Korver will now face a pre-sentence hearing at the Melbourne County Court on 30 September.