Jacob Donn jailed for 13 years for killing brothers Shane and Sheldon Shorey in a hit-and-run in Wellington in 2021

Jacob Stephen Donn was unlicensed, high on a cocktail of drugs and trying to perform stunts in his car when he hit and killed Shane, 7, and Sheldon Shorey, 6 in Wellington on January 5, 2021.

Almost 40 of the victim's family and friends were in the public gallery of the Dubbo District Court on Friday, when Judge Craig Smith sentenced Donn to 13 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years.

The sentence has been backdated from the date of Donn's arrest, and he will be eligible for parole in seven years.

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Family members erupted in court with disbelief at what they said was an inadequate sentence. Outside court, the two boys' father Joseph Shorey said he was "in shock".

"The law has got to change. I'm shattered and devastated, it's absolute b----t," he said.

"This justice system is wrong, he gave a penalty that's by the book here, but that book's got to change.

"[Donn] never had a licence, he drove erratically, stupid. Something's got to be done.

"These boys are gone and never coming back."

Donn appeared via video link from Bathurst Correctional Centre and sobbed while the victim impact statements were read in court.

The boys' mother Shayleen Frail said it "destroyed her soul" knowing they would never call her mum again.

"Just when I feel the loss is momentarily forgotten, it comes back and creeps up from behind," she said.

"You don't lose someone once, you lose them every time you open your eyes and realise they're gone.

"There is no end to the loss. No parent should ever have to bury a child, I had to bury two."

She said since the crash, there had been many triggers that "rendered her frozen".

"I can't stop thinking of every detail. I begged Jacob to help while I was pinned against that wall," she said directly to Donn on screen.

"You just left. You just took off like a coward."

The boys' father Joseph Shorey spoke about the impact the deaths had on their surviving brother, stating "he just wasn't the same".

"They had bright and exciting lives to live. They were both destined to play for the NRL.

"Shane wanted to be a policeman and Sheldon a fireman."

Catherine McLeod, the mother of the boys' cousin gave a statement about the impact on their son, who was 11 when injured so severely in the crash that his leg was amputated.

"He's just filled with anger and hate," the court heard.

"He has bad dreams about the accident. I watch him tossing and turning, screaming and crying in his sleep.

"A week after the accident he said he missed the boys and wishes he was with them."

According to court documents, 27-year-old Donn had methamphetamine, Xanax, cannabis and heroin in his system when he mowed down the brothers, their mother and two other children at Wellington, at about 4.30pm in the afternoon.

Before the crash, Donn had been seen doing 60km/h in a 50 zone, performing fishtails in a red Holden Commodore.

At 4.31pm, Donn was spotted on CCTV travelling east on Warne Street, when one of the attempted stunts went horribly wrong.

The red commodore hit the gravel and its front wheels mounted a gutter, when Donn slammed on the brakes which caused the car to skid out of control along the footpath into a brick wall and five pedestrians.

The mother of the two boys saw the car coming and tried to throw them out of the way, but did not have enough time.

Two of the boys - brothers aged six and seven at the time of the crash - were trapped under the vehicle and died at the scene.

An 11-year-old boy, and friend of the two brothers, sustained serious leg injuries and suffered a leg amputation.

The boys' mother was trapped for a short time between the vehicle and a steel fence. She suffered several fractures to her leg and other injuries. Her step-son, then aged nine, also suffered a number of injuries.

Donn got out of the passenger side of the vehicle screaming "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it".

He helped another man with freeing one of the dead children who was trapped under the vehicle's exhaust system and apologised to the mother before fleeing the scene.

After a short foot pursuit, Donn was later tracked down to a property about 11.40pm.

Donn has been behind bars since his arrest.

When he was arrested, police located 24 buprenorphine strips on him. Drug and urine tests revealed at the time of the incident he was under the influence of a number of drugs.

Court documents said the levels of these indicated the drugs had been taken within 12 hours of the blood sample being taken.

In May, this year Donn pleaded guilty to five charges including two counts of manslaughter, causing bodily harm by misconduct while in charge of a motor vehicle, two counts of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm while under the influence of drugs.

He also pleaded guilty to six charges which were placed on a Section 166, and taken into account in sentencing.

These included never being a licenced person driving on a road, four counts of failing to stop and assist after an impact causing injury, and possessing a prohibited drug.