Welch, who was 21 at the time, hit a woman with a car outside the victim’s house on Acacia St, Cobram at about 12.50am on January 1, 2023, after she’d been there for New Year’s Eve celebrations.
The victim landed on the car bonnet before falling on the ground.
She got stuck underneath the car when Welch drove over her and on to the road without stopping.
The victim was in a coma for six days at Melbourne’s The Alfred hospital and was given a 30 per cent chance of survival.
She also had a shattered pelvis, a bone protruding from her body, damaged lungs and a broken collarbone and ribs.
The victim had told Welch and another woman to leave her house at 12.48am after becoming involved in a verbal dispute with them inside.
The dispute continued outside after Welch and the other woman got into the car.
The prosecutor told the court witnesses heard Welch tell the victim “move or I’ll f****** hit you” and “I’m going to run you over”.
Welch turned herself in at Cobram Police Station at about 5am on January 1, 2023, and told police she locked the car doors because she was afraid the victim was going to hurt her, and she went to drive straight but the victim had moved.
In sentencing Welch, Judge Geoffery Chettle acknowledged she’d had a “challenged and troubled childhood” and showed some remorse for her offending.
He noted Welch’s history of mental health issues and complex post-traumatic stress disorder that impaired her ability to think clearly and put her in “flight mode”.
However, he said Welch was “not fully forthcoming to police” and the CCTV footage didn’t “support your version of events”.
“You verbally threatened to run her over,” Judge Chettle said.
Welch was sentenced to 12 months in prison, followed by a three-year community corrections order.
As part of the order, Welch must also complete 200 hours of unpaid community work, and receive alcohol and drug treatments and mental health treatment.
Welch was disqualified from driving for four years, backdated to the time of the offence.
Judge Chettle said Welch was “controlled, assertive and angry” when she left the house, and although prison would “weigh more heavily” on her, her actions were “too serious” to release her only on a community corrections order.
“You’re movements when driving were deliberate and measured,” he said.
“You knew that your driving at and over her would probably result in her sustaining serious injury,” he said.
“You drove away leaving her near death in the street.”
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