Court to Reduce Shakira Adams' Prison Term for Fatal High-Speed Crash

The ACT Court of Appeal will lower the 14-year sentence of Shakira Adams after prosecutors agreed her driving did not fall into the worst culpable-driving category.

Shakira Adams, 24, received a 14-year jail term in 2022 after pleading guilty to culpable driving that killed 20-year-old Matthew McLuckie in a high-speed, head-on crash on Hindmarsh Drive in Canberra. The ACT Court of Appeal will now reconsider the sentence because the Director of Public Prosecutions conceded the offence was not in the “worst category” of culpable driving. Defence counsel Kristin Edwards argued the original term was excessive, citing Adams' disadvantaged upbringing, a severe traumatic brain injury, and the punitive conditions of her placement in the Alexander Maconochie Centre’s management unit.

The DPP’s Elizabeth Ruddle acknowledged these mitigating factors but stressed the extreme recklessness of the driving. Judges David Mossop, Darryl Rangiah and Andrew Muller have reserved judgment, with a new sentence to be issued later. The case highlights ongoing concerns about prison accommodation for inmates with complex medical needs.