Vic man robbed couple, killed mum in crash

A heroin addict robbed a Melbourne couple at gunpoint and later caused a car crash that killed his mother and injured five people.

Nathan Shane Bryans, 29, and two other men broke into a house at Maribyrnong in November 2009 and tied up the middle-aged couple who lived there.

The Victorian County Court heard the burglars threatened the couple at gunpoint, and stole $100,000 worth of cash, mobile phones and jewellery.

Three years after the burglary, Nathan Bryans caused a collision at Plumpton that killed his mother Donna.

Bryans was under the influence of heroin and prescription drugs at the time and veered to the wrong side of the road, hitting a car travelling in the other direction.

The crash killed Ms Bryans and injured Nathan Bryans, his brother and his brother's girlfriend, as well as a mother and son travelling in the other car.

Bryans' brother later died of a drug overdose, the court heard.

Bryans has pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and armed robbery, culpable driving causing death and negligently causing serious injury.

Prosecutor Damian Ellwood said the armed robbery was among the most serious examples of the crime imaginable.

"It's committed on a couple at night in their own home," he told a pre-sentence hearing on Thursday.

Bryans' lawyer Adrian Lewin told the court his client had struggled with heroin addiction since his father died in a motor vehicle accident.

He said Bryans suffered a compound fracture to his elbow in the crash that still caused him pain.

Judge Irene Lawson will sentence Bryans, who has been in custody since last year, on June 12.