A driver under the influence will spend a minimum of seven years in prison for the tragic death of a young woman.
However, the parents of Elise Hodder express that they face a lifetime of grief.
“Our Elise was one of the most beautiful, loving individuals you could ever meet,” her father, Michael Hodder, remarked outside the courthouse on Monday following the sentencing of Connor Mathiasson.
“She has no life now, no future … and we, her loved ones, are left with a life sentence. This endures due to inadequate policies and insufficient state legislation,” he added.
The 24-year-old victim had just arrived at a rave to celebrate her friend Emma Swords’ birthday when they were both hit in a parking lot.
Connor Mathiasson, who was driving without a license, had been drinking and speeding on his way to the Kooyong event on October 12, 2024, having shared a 10-pack of Jack Daniels and Coke with a companion.
He was between three and four times the legal blood alcohol limit with drugs in his system when he got back behind the wheel to leave about 1am the next morning.
Mathiasson drove into Ms Hodder and her group of friends, including Swords.
The 24-year-old was dragged under the car as Mathiasson drove forward, trapping her beneath the vehicle – where she died.
Swords suffered serious injuries, including two broken ankles, and had to learn to walk again while grieving her friend’s death.
Mathiasson, 24, was sentenced in the County Court to up to 11 years behind bars on Monday after pleading guilty to culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury.
He must serve a minimum of seven years before he can apply for release on parole.
Judge Robyn Harper and Ms Hodder’s father both noted how young male drivers were over-represented in culpable driving cases before the courts.
Male offenders represented nearly 90 per cent of all cases of culpable driving causing death between July 2018 and June 2023, figures from the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council show.
Mr Hodder said the over-representation must be met with “a lot of deterrence”.
“This was another male in charge of a motor vehicle, which is effectively a weapon, that has killed another female in this state,” he said outside court.
“Our daughter died a horrific death in the most evil of circumstances by a person that should not have been driving and had plenty of opportunities to not drive.”
Harper told Mathiasson the incident was catastrophic and “entirely of your own doing”.
She labelled him as a “collision waiting to happen”, noting he was drink driving before and during the collision and was caught speeding earlier in the evening.
“All of these factors demonstrate your contempt for the safety of other road users on the night in question,” the judge said.
“Ms Hodder has lost her life, Ms Swords’ future has been irrevocably damaged – all because you chose to drive negligently while significantly affected by alcohol.”
Mathiasson had caused “immeasurable” grief to the families of his victims, the judge added.
“No one should have to bury their child in such cruel and evil circumstances,” she said.
Ms Hodder’s mother Pauline sobbed from the front row of the court as circumstances of the deadly crash were read out.
Mathiasson, who has served 18 days of his prison term, will also have his licence disqualified for nine years.
