As his dad put it, 2019 would have been the year Adam Joseph spent his whole life working for.
The 21-year-old was in January due to fly to the UK for an internship at Arsenal Football Club, fulfilling a lifelong dream, before returning to take up a role as joint coach of the reserves team at his beloved Noarlunga United Soccer Club.
But just before 4am on December 29, 2018, his life was cut short when he was fatally struck by a Mercedes-Benz sedan while walking home with friends after night out at O'Halloran Hill, south of Adelaide's CBD.
A sample revealed the man behind the wheel, Joshua Burroughs Norman, could have had a blood alcohol content as high as .21 at the time - more than four times the legal limit.
Norman, 24, cried in the District Court on Monday as Mr Joseph's family and friends told of their loss.
"I doubt that you could possibly understand the grief my family has endured because of your decision to drive your car," his mother, Lisa Hallett, said.
"I cannot accept that such a lovely person lost his life in such a brutal way.
"Our lives will never be the same and life holds no joy for us."
Fighting back tears, Mr Joseph's father, David Joseph, remembered his "one in a million" son, who was completing a sports health and science degree at Flinders University.
"It would have been the year Adam had been working for since he was born 21 years ago - gone," he said.
"Because of someone's stupid, careless and irresponsible act, I've lost my son.
"My heart has been broken and ... it will never heal."
Facing Mr Joseph's parents and a crowded public gallery, Norman then read a letter of apology, telling them "I am overwhelmed with shame and regret".
"It deeply upsets me what's happened," he said.
"I want you to know I am truly and deeply sorry."
Defence counsel Casey Isaacs said his client was suffering extreme social anxiety and using alcohol to self-medicate at the time of the crime, and asked Judge Jane Schammer to hand him a suspended or home detention sentence.
He added that Norman's prescribed valium would not be readily available in custody, however prosecutor Claire McDonald said an immediate prison sentence was the only appropriate penalty.
Norman, who pleaded guilty to one aggravated count of causing death by dangerous driving, had his bail continued ahead of sentencing next month.
Outside court, he said he hoped Mr Joseph's family would one day forgive him.
"I just wish them all the best for the future and just hope some day they will be able to get through this and be back to what they were like before," he told reporters.
Australian Associated Press
