Quote:A Noble Park man, whose dangerous driving caused the death of an unborn baby, has been sentenced to three years and five months in jail.
Judge Meryl Sexton told the court Amrick Thind, 23, was driving aggressively, weaving in and out of traffic along Warrigal Road in Oakleigh, Victoria when he suddenly changed lanes, [highlight]clipping a four-wheel drive and sending it veering head on into Hannah Robert's car[/highlight].
Ms Robert was eight months pregnant and lost her unborn baby daughter in the crash. Four other people were also injured.
Judge Sexton said she did not accept Thind had made a "split second" decision to change lanes, but rather had taken "unnecessary risks" in driving too close to the car in front.
"The way in which you were driving caused irreversible and heartbreaking changes to the lives of a number of those people," she said.
She said no-one could fail to be touched by the eloquent and powerful statements of Ms Robert and her partner about the loss of their baby girl.
"Slowly, they have recovered from their physical injuries. It will take much longer for their emotional healing," she said.
In sentencing Thind, Judge Sexton told the court she accepted his remorse, but said it was lessened by his decision to flee the scene after he saw the collision.
"I must state clearly that conduct of the kind you engaged in will not be tolerated," she said.
Thind pleaded guilty to five counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
He will serve a non-parole period of two years and three months.
He has been ordered to pay $6,523 for damage to Ms Robert's car, and is likely to face deportation after his release from prison.
This is a very sad case...
Clearly, the accident happened in a short timeframe and there is no evidence whatsoever that the offender was aware of the woman's pregnancy - he didn't hit her vehicle directly and she was simply one of several people in the vicinity of his vehicle at the time that he was driving dangerously...
It is a fact, that the unborn baby died following the crash - but the manner of the offender's driving was apparently not so reckless as to legally warrant more serious charges...
It is interesting, the way that the journalist reported that the offender was deemed responsible for compensating for the damage to the woman's car...
I drive an average of nearly 100km each day and I find myself bearing witness to this sort of risky driving behaviour pretty much on a daily basis - but, despite the ever-present risk, I rarely witness a collision as a consequence...
As sad as this case is, I believe that the Judge had no real legal basis for imposing a harsher penalty than incarceration for a minimum non-parole period of 2 years and 3 months - if she had been harsher, her sentence would have most likely been overturned on appeal... Garbage, pure garbage.
When you break road rules and engage in risky and dangerous behaviour, should that behaviour lead to a serious accident one should be held accountable to the full extent of the law.
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