By Mitchell Clarke
A drunk and unlicensed hoon, who was on bail when he sped through a red light and collided head on with a car in Pakenham, could be released from jail in just under a year.
Gak Thuc, 20, was sentenced in the County Court on 27 October, after pleading guilty to three charges of negligently causing serious injury.
Thuc caught the attention of Cardinia Highway Patrol when he avoided a registration check near The Heritage Shopping Centre in Pakenham in the early hours of 7 March this year.
Police attempted to intercept the unregistered Commodore being driven by the unlicensed teen, but he instead sped down McGregor Road, where he reached speeds of up to 88km/h.
After numerous attempts to intercept the out-of-control car, police later recorded him travelling at 145km/h in a 60km/h zone.
A witness said the car “flew past so fast that our car shook”.
Thuc failed to stop at a red light and collided head on with a white Commodore, which was being driven by an elderly Pakenham woman, at the McGregor Road and Princes Highway intersection.
The court heard the 71-year-old woman was unconscious and non-responsive at the scene and spent six days in hospital.
She continues to experience both physical and mental pain as a result of the crash.
Thuc’s front seat passenger, a 16-year-old boy was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with life threatening injuries.
One of his back seat passengers, a 17-year-old girl, spent eight days in hospital with life-threatening abdominal, chest and facial injuries.
His other two passengers, two 17-year-old girls, were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The court heard Thuc returned a blood alcohol level of 0.098, but a forensic physician believed his BAC at the time of collision could have been between 0.126 and 0.154.
In sentencing, Judge Gregory Lyon said Thuc’s offending had “direct and serious adverse consequences” on several people.
“It is actually difficult to imagine a more serious combination of factors contributing to your criminal negligence,” he said.
“Every person who drives on the road has a duty to take ordinary precautions to avoid harming other road users.
“It is so plainly obvious to any reasonable observer, that your driving … fell so far short of meeting that duty of care that you can be considered criminally negligent.”
The court heard Thuc, who was born in South Sudan and migrated to Australia when he was four-years-old, had a particularly difficult upbringing.
But Judge Lyon said he wasn’t satisfied there was a direct link between the hardship and his offending.
Thuc, who has a criminal history, was sentenced to a maximum of three years and one month in jail with a non-parole period of 19 months.
With time already served, he could be released in just under a year.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years.
