First prosecution under Zoe's Law heads to sentencing
Leeton Bates will be the first person in NSW sentenced under Zoe's Law for causing unborn child death.
Leeton Bates is scheduled for sentencing in March 2027 over a crash on Newcastle Road at North Lambton on June 22 last year. Bates was driving the wrong way down the road at up to 87km/h in a 60km/h zone while fleeing police.
The white Holden Commodore hit a Hyundai Elantra head-on. A 54-year-old passenger in the Elantra died at the scene.
The 27-year-old driver was 25 weeks pregnant and suffered serious abdominal injuries; her unborn child did not survive. Bates has pleaded guilty to aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death and other charges.
The new Zoe's Law offence, introduced in 2022, allows courts to recognise the death of an unborn child as a separate harm and lets families deliver victim impact statements about the loss.
- March 17, 2027
- Sentencing date
- 82-87 km/h in a 60 km/h zone
- Speed in zone
- 25 weeks pregnant
- Fetal age
- 2022
- Law introduced
Why it mattersThe case will test a landmark NSW law designed to better recognise the death of unborn children caused by criminal acts, setting a legal precedent for how such losses are treated in court.
AustraliaNSW courts will now apply Zoe's Law in sentencing for crimes that kill unborn children, giving families and the justice system a new way to recognise these deaths as distinct from harm to the pregnant woman.
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