also banned from driving for six and a
half years. The judge determined it was
a middle range offence and described
Luke as “an arrogant driver”. Luke
served most of the two years of his
imprisonment in St Heliers minimum
security prison at Muswellbrook, NSW.
In court, Luke broke down and
wept, telling the Lay family he was “truly
sorry” for their loss. He told the court
that the crash was the first thing he
thought about when he woke up each
morning. “I’m just so sorry,” he said
through tears. “I have been in a dark
place for a long time about the accident.”
The fallout was tough for Samantha,
too. “The media only reported what the
judge said, but social media turned it
into what everyone else
said. I got horrible mes-
sages from strangers on
Facebook when Luke was
sentenced. One of them
said, ‘I hope your boy-
friend is someone’s bitch
in jail.’ Another said, ‘He
deserves to rot in prison.’
Hurtful, horrible things.”
Two years in jail is a long time,
although the Lay family have been
quoted as saying they didn’t feel it was
long enough. For Samantha, there were
many dark nights and lonely days of pri-
vate heartache being away from the man
she first fell in love with when she was
just 17. “I cried so much. At home and
when I’d have to leave him. The [prison]visits would go from 9am to 2pm. As
soon as I’d see the guards coming
around, I’d start bawling because I
wouldn’t want to leave. Luke would
wave me goodbye. I’d be driving through
tears, my glasses would be fogging up.”A
s she talks, Samantha looks
down and twists two rings
on her left hand. A diamond
engagement ring sparkles
on her ring finger, but on her index
finger glimmers a discreet gold band
studded with tiny diamonds. It’s not just
any ring. It’s her wedding band, a secret
she has kept for the past two years.
For the first time publicly, Saman-
tha reveals that she and Luke were
married in a secret cere-
mony in March 2014, two
months before he went to
jail. It was a poignant day,
given the pain of the past
and the knowledge they’d
soon be separated for
years, but its joy banished
some of the dread of what
lay ahead.
“My family was there, Luke’s family,
and a few of our close friends,” recalls
Samantha. “It was very low key. It was
more like a family gathering or a Christ-
mas dinner, full of love and support.”
Samantha was radiant in a white,
strapless Carla Zampatti dress. “My
close friend Jasmine [Pampling, a brow
artist] did my hair and make-up.”Why the secrecy? Out of respect, the
couple wanted to keep the event low-
key. On this of all days, she didn’t want
to be hounded by the media, or for their
marriage to be seen as some kind of des-
perate step.
“We had been engaged for a few
years and were planning to get married.
Would our wedding have been bigger
under normal circumstances? Probably
not, but I would have posted a photo or
something on social media,” she explains.
For the newlyweds, the jail time
passed slowly, but it did pass. In
May this year, Samantha and Luke’s
mother drove to Muswellbrook to pick
up the newly released Luke. In the later
months of his sentence, he’d been
allowed work release, working in town
and wearing an electronic ankle brace-
let. He had saved up some money and
now had a surprise organised for his
bride. Samantha smiles at the memory.
“We stayed a night at the Shangri La
[Hotel] in the city,” she says, “and
somehow he had organised for us to
have dinner at Tetsuya’s restaurant.
I was in shock. I hadn’t ever had any-
thing like that done for me. It was like
the honeymoon we never had.”
The couple are eager to get on
with their lives together. Samantha is
still in high demand as a model, but
Luke is a changed man.
“He is very cautious now, especially
when we are in the car. He’s aware of
everything in a way he wasn’t before.”
She says that while he was in jail, he gave
talks to young people about road safety
and the deadly toll of speeding. They
have sold the Holden, and Luke hopes to
continue his work educating drivers in
traffic detention courses. “He wants to be
part of preventing this from happening
to any other families,” Samantha says.
“We don’t talk about the accident
much because I can’t handle it, but I
know he feels deeply for Mr Lay’s family
and always will,” she adds. “I wish we
could bring him back but we can’t. Some-
thing like this hurts so many people.”
It’s the lesson everyone wishes could
be learnt without such a high price. The
lesson that a young man with a fast car
can cause such tragedy and lead to life-
long, ever-present regret. Life goes on,
but Samantha hopes others will read her
husband’s story and take heed.Luke leaves court in May 2014
after being sentenced to four years
in jail over the death of 78-year-old
Kenneth Lay. Below: Samantha
posts a picture of her and Luke
on Instagram to celebrate
her 26th birthday in July.Samantha
hopes that
others will read
her husband’s
story and
take heed94 marieclaire.com.auExclusive
PETER BREW-BEVAN; NEWSPIX