Perth obstetrician charged with manslaughter over Dalkeith crash

A Perth obstetrician accused of causing a horrific crash that killed a young woman and left her ride-share driver fighting for his life was allegedly driving at 130km/h in a 50km/h zone while drunk with tears blurring his vision.

Rhys Bellinge, 45, appeared in Perth Magistrate’s Court on Monday via a bedside hearing, accused of crashing his Jaguar into a stationary ride-share car around 10pm on Saturday night on Birdwood Parade in Dalkeith.

The passenger using the ride-share service, Elizabeth Pearce, 24, died just metres from her destination.

Police prosecutors allege Bellinge was driving in an arrogant and aggressive manner and ran a red light before accelerating heavily which caused him to clip the curb and lose control of the vehicle, slamming into the ride-share car which was on the other side of the road.

He allegedly blew 0.183 blood alcohol reading at the scene, and admitted to police he had been drinking at his parent’s house while watching a game of football on the TV.

It’s claimed he told police in an interview that he couldn’t see while driving due to tears in his eyes.

Bellinge and his wife had recently separated, with the dashcam footage from his car at the time of the incident revealing some “unflattering remarks” about her.

“We have a nine-minute period between 10.02pm and 10.11pm that have put him here, we have an upstanding citizen otherwise,” defence lawyer Tony Hager said.