Jacob Donn jailed for at least nine 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.

On Friday Donn was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of nine years after pleading 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 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.

In the Dubbo District Court on Friday, Crown prosecutor Mark Davies argued Donn was clearly impaired at the time of the crash, noting the circumstances were as "inevitable as you could get".

"[Donn] ingested multiple drugs merely hours before choosing to drive in circumstances when he must have known he was very substantially impaired," Mr Davies said.

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He argued not a great deal of weight should be given to Donn's remorse. "The crown concedes remorse, but he didn't immediately take responsibly," Mr Davies told the court.

The court heard Donn had been exposed to alcohol at the age of 10, before he started using cannabis at 12, amphetamines at 14 and was introduced to heroin at the age of 16, by his mother.

The probability of Donn avoiding drug abuse, defence barrister Nicholas Broadbent argued was "very little".

Judge Smith acknowledged Donn's "background of profound disadvantage" after being exposed to domestic violence and removed from his parents care.

The court heard Donn had received "some treatment", by participating in rehabilitation programs, including the methadone program which he was on at the time of the crash.

Donn had also been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression before the crash, which Judge Smith accepted had been exacerbated.

In a report from a psychologist, it was revealed since the crash he has experienced "intrusive thoughts and flashbacks".

Judge Smith took into account a letter tendered to the court by Donn, which he said had expressed sorrow and remorse for the boys' death and had been subjected to death threats while in prison.

But Judge Smith said Donn would have known there was a high risk of death and he displayed a "complete abandonment of his responsibilities".

He also noted Donn's biggest barrier to rehabilitation was his drug and alcohol addiction, given the court heard he had been disciplined in the last year for making alcohol while in jail.

When sentencing Donn, Judge Smith expressed his condolences to the family.

"No human life can be equated with a period of imprisonment, no sentence can bring back a loved one or undo what occurred here," he said.

The 27-year-old appeared via audio-visual link from Bathurst Correctional Centre and looked visually shaken when four victim impact statements were read aloud in the Dubbo District Court on Friday.

The boys' mother Shayleen Frail looked at Donn on screen and began by telling him to "listen carefully to what you took away from me and my family".

Ms Frail described Shane, who was three days short of his eighth birthday when he died as "football crazy" who idolised Greg Inglis and Cody Walker.

She described Sheldon as "my little character" who "loved to be the centre of attention" and was "full of presence" and "a star".

She recalled the horror of the accident and the pain of having to relive it daily, noting it "destroyed her soul" knowing they would never call her mum again.

"I can't stop thinking of every detail. I begged you 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.

"Why couldn't it have been me, or you. Why two young boys, my boys who were just starting to live and thrive."

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," he said.

"They were destined to play in the NRL one day and I would have busted my a--e to get them there.

"Shane wanted to be a policeman, Sheldon wanted to be a fireman. And I said to them, 'I'll get you there'."

Mr Shorey angrily confronted Donn telling him, "I hope you suffer every f---ing day".

Catherine McLeod, the mother of the boys' friend 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."

The boys' grandmother Denise Frail, had her victim impact statement read aloud by a family member, where she described "the nights being the hardest".

"I miss everything about them, even the bad days," the court heard.

"It pulls at my heartstrings seeing other grandparents posting on [social media] watching other families fishing, camping or celebrating, it makes my heart ache.

"Every day my thoughts are plagued with guilty thoughts ... we are left wondering what it would be like if they were still here.

"The effect this has had not just on my family but the community is overwhelming.

"I just want my grandsons home."

As she walked away she told Donn she hoped he would "rot in hell".

The Shorey brothers had been living in Queensland with their father and at the time of the crash were visiting their mother for the school holidays.

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

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

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.

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.