Chance meeting ends in death

Anthony Dowsley

Herald Sun November 01, 2009 11:27PM

SAMANTHA Saul had only hours to live when she met Mark Shannon at a Crown casino nightclub.

SAMANTHA Saul had only hours to live when she met Mark Shannon at a Crown casino nightclub.

It was a midweek night in August 2005 when the two met at Odeon, and clicked, but then went separate ways.

Shannon and his friend, Tim Allen, had been drinking at a Hawthorn nightclub before going to the casino and, after a few more drinks there, planned to head back to Hawthorn.

But another chance meeting at a nearby McDonald's sealed their fates.

Ms Saul and her friend, David Clarke, piled into Shannon's four-wheel drive to head back to Cheers in Hawthorn.

But after driving just 1km Shannon ran a red light and at twice the speed limit, causing a horrific crash with another car.

Ms Saul, a former exotic dancer who had come to Melbourne from Queensland for a change of scene, had been having trouble with her seatbelt as they hurtled towards the accident.

She was found critically injured and lying beneath the driver's seat of the mangled car at the corner of Flinders and King streets.

Shannon, a chef, was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries, where his blood was extracted.

Three samples were taken, two of them for police to analyse and another for Shannon.

His blood showed he had an alcohol content reading of .119, more than twice the legal limit.

Twenty six-year-old Ms Saul's battle for life ended 17 days later in The Alfred hospital when her parents, Barb and John, made the excruciating decision to turn off her life support.

In 2006 Shannon was charged with culpable driving causing death.

Three years later he was sentenced after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of dangerous driving causing death.

He also admitted two counts of negligently causing serious injury.

He was sentenced to a maximum four years' jail, with a two-year minimum.

During his plea hearing the court heard he was a "reluctant driver" who was remorseful.

But it also heard in the years following the incident Shannon received four penalty notices for his poor driving.

He came under demerit point pressure after failing to stop at a stop sign and had also been nabbed for three speeding offences.

Ms Saul's mother's victim impact statement, which was not heard by the court for legal reasons, told of her devastation.

In part, it read: "One never expects to lose a child, it only happens to other people. I have only met two of my blood relatives. I gave birth to both, and I hope to God I don't have to bury both. I don't know that I could survive it a second time."

Ms Saul's friend, Mr Clarke, suffered acquired brain injury and ongoing problems with his back from the accident. He is not expected to make a full recovery.