NSW drink driver jailed over fatal crash

It is the "terrible truth" Michael Severino must confront.

His decision to get behind the wheel of his car in an intoxicated state and speed through Sydney's north ended in killing his "best mate", a judge has said.

Kaileigh Fryer, 19, died after Severino failed to negotiate a left turn and his "out of control" Toyota rolled up to three times in Terrey Hills in the early hours of April 9 last year.

Ms Fryer was flung from the passenger side and landed on the roadway.

It was there she succumbed to her multiple injuries.

In sentencing Severino to at least four years in prison at Sydney's District Court, Judge Donna Woodburne said: "He did not intend to cause her death, but that is what he did.

"He embarked upon a highly perilous journey with fatal consequences. As a result, Kaileigh Fryer is dead."

It is a truth the 25-year-old long denied.

Severino, the court heard, told police at the scene he was not going to admit to being the driver as he did not want to "incriminate himself".

"But he did incriminate himself when he told a police officer and then a paramedic that he was," Judge Woodburne said.

Thirty days later, he wrote to officers saying injuries suffered on the night meant he could no longer remember who the culprit was.

He pleaded not guilty to aggravated dangerous driving occasioning death but a jury found him guilty this month.

Judge Woodburne said he had shown remorse and had suffered continuing distress, depression and nightmares because of the crash.

"He says they were best mates. She was like his little sister and she called him big brother," Judge Woodburne said.

But Ms Fryer's mother Michelle told reporters after the sentencing that "if the apology had of come 16 months ago, I may have believed it".

She was a "bit disappointed" that the Severino family had not approached them.

But she said her family were focused on healing and completing the "bucket list" left behind by the 19-year-old.

The list went viral after her death as friends and strangers set out to achieve some of her wishes.

Speaking directly to Ms Fryer's family on Tuesday, Judge Woodburne said: "Every parent's worst nightmare came true for you and I'm very, very sorry."

Severino, who made no reaction after he was sentenced to a maximum of six years and nine months, will be eligible for parole in 2019.