Matilda Rose Delves, 21, of Medowie, told police she did not see an approaching Holden Astra as she drove along Richardson Road at Raymond Terrace about 11am on December 8 last year.

She wasn't speeding and the trace amount of cannabis in her system would not have impaired her driving.

But that momentary inattention; taking her eyes off the road to grab at the receipt as it threatened to blow out of an open window led to a head-on crash that caused the death of 58-year-old Patrick Bassett, and seriously injured his partner, 62-year-old Maree Josee Hyde, in the front passenger seat.

The pair had travelled from England to Australia for a holiday and were sightseeing in the area as they slowly made their way up the east coast to Brisbane.

"It was my fault," Delves told one of the first witnesses on scene. "I went on to the other side of the road. "I don't know how long I was on the other side of the road. A receipt flew up and was going to go out the window. I tried to catch it."

Delves pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, which carries a maximum of 10 years in jail, and causing bodily harm by misconduct in Newcastle Local Court in August.

And Judge Roy Ellis took into account a charge of driving with an illicit drug present in her system when he sentenced Delves in Newcastle District Court on Friday. Despite the tragic consequences of the crash and the need for general deterrence, Judge Ellis found Delves had "excellent" prospects of rehabilitation and said she could be spared a jail term, ordering she serve the two-year and three month sentence in the community under an intensive corrections order.

Delves was also disqualified from driving for 18 months.