Dad Sentenced After Drunken Crash With Daughter That Set Car Ablaze

A 29-year-old Mount Gambier man has been sentenced after a drunken late-night crash that left his car in ashes.

Ethan Joshua Robert Larson was driving to a KFC on March 19 with his five-year-old daughter in the car when he crashed into a tree. The pair managed to escape just before the whole vehicle was engulfed in flames.

While his daughter suffered minor injuries, Larson had to be airlifted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital to address the more serious damage he sustained from the incident.

Three times over the legal Blood Alcohol Concentration limit, Larson pleaded guilty in the Mount Gambier Magistrates Court to charges of driving under the influence of alcohol with a child under 16 and driving in a reckless or dangerous manner.

The father was fined $1100, banned from driving for a year and placed on a good behaviour bond. He revealed that the Department for Child Protection now had his daughter in their custody and that he was making moves towards getting her back.

“I have started four parenting courses, I’m seeing a psychologist, and doing drug and alcohol counselling,” the dad said.

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