WOMAN CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER AFTER ALLEGED ROAD-RAGE HIT-AND-RUN THAT KILLED 73-YEAR-OLD MAN

A 41-year-old woman has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of 73-year-old Trevor Gordon Fleet, following an alleged road-rage confrontation on the New South Wales Far South Coast.

The arrest came on the same day Mr. Fleet’s funeral was held, more than five weeks after he was fatally injured in the incident.

According to police, Mr. Fleet was involved in an argument with the woman on Newtown Road near the Princes Highway in Bega on August 31. Investigators allege the confrontation was not planned and began after the two stopped on the side of the road.

Police say the woman then returned to her vehicle, a silver Holden SUV, and allegedly reversed into Mr. Fleet before driving away.

Mr. Fleet was seriously injured in the collision. Paramedics treated him at the scene before he was taken to South East Regional Hospital in Bega. He died in hospital the following day.

The incident triggered a major investigation known as Strike Force Dalore. For weeks, detectives searched for the driver and appealed to the public for information, believing she remained somewhere in the local area.

Police eventually moved closer to identifying a suspect after investigators carried out search warrants at a home in Wyndham and a business in South Pambula on Wednesday morning.

During the searches, officers seized a vehicle believed to have been involved in the alleged incident, along with other items that will undergo forensic examination.

The 41-year-old woman was arrested following the searches and taken to Bega Police Station, where she was charged with manslaughter.

She was refused bail and is due to face court.

The arrest came at a particularly painful moment for Mr. Fleet’s family and friends. His funeral was being held in Pambula just hours after police took the woman into custody.

Before the arrest, police had described Mr. Fleet as a well-respected member of the community and urged the suspected driver to come forward and provide her account of what happened.

The case now moves into the courts as investigators continue examining the evidence surrounding the fatal confrontation.

The allegations against the woman have not been proven in court.

Source: ABC News Australia