The mother of NRL premiership star Payne Haas was dealing with the profound grief of losing her firstborn son before being involved in a tragic head-on collision that claimed three lives, according to court revelations.
Uiatu “Joan” Taufua is facing three charges of manslaughter following the catastrophic accident on a narrow rural road in the Gold Coast hinterland on December 30, 2022.
Authorities allege she was evading police when she collided with another vehicle, resulting in the deaths of Chris Fawcett, 79, Susan Zimmer, 70, and Zimmer’s 35-year-old daughter, Steffanie.
Her son, Chace Haas, 21, passed away at Gold Coast Hospital in August 2020.
Chace had been confined to a wheelchair his entire life after suffering a neck injury in a car accident at just five months old.
The court was informed that Taufua had a difficult time coming to terms with his passing.
“She was going for frequent walks at all hours of the morning, indicating to family members she was taking her son (Chace) for a walk in his wheelchair and that she had been given messages by her son.”
The defence team is attempting to extract GPS data tracing her rambling walks from a fitness app, which will form part of her psychological assessment.
The court granted the adjournment, ordering the report to be finalised before the case is mentioned again on November 20.
Taufua was on parole at the time of the crash after being sentenced to nine months in prison for assaulting two security guards at The Star casino.
She was subsequently returned to custody after the collision.
