A man who drove through a stop sign and crashed into a truck, injuring a pregnant woman and leading to the death of her unborn child, has lost an appeal against a jail sentence.
Amrit Kandel, 33, appealed in Shepparton County Court against a sentence handed down in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court that included a jail term and a community corrections order.
The appeal was in relation to charges of dangerous driving causing injury and failing to stop at a stop sign.
The court was told Kandel had been involved in a crash with a truck at Orrvale on November 24, 2022, where one of his passengers was injured and, as a result, lost her unborn baby while she was 23 weeks pregnant.
Prosecutor Fraser Cameron said Kandel had been travelling east on Poplar Ave when he failed to stop at the intersection with Orrvale Rd and hit the rear trailer of a truck driving north on Orrvale Rd.
Mr Cameron said there had been two sets of three rumble strips, and a flashing ‘stop sign ahead’ warning sign in Kandel’s approach to the intersection, as well as stop signs at the intersection.
The truck driver on Orrvale Rd, however, had “limited vision” of the intersection, with a house, trees and a channel bank blocking their view of the intersection, Mr Cameron said.
The court heard the crash happened in an 80km/h zone, and police estimated Kandel’s speed to be 70 to 80km/h.
Mr Cameron said Kandel’s driving was “a moderate example of dangerous driving”.
“It was an 80km/h zone and there were multiple warning signs and two sets of rumble strips,” Mr Cameron said.
“He’s engaged in prolonged inattention, not just momentary inattention.
“He was sober. He just didn’t look where he was going for a significant amount of time.”
Kandel had four passengers in his Toyota sedan at the time of the collision, with the group one of two carloads on its way for a day out cherry picking.
The injured woman was a friend of Kandel’s wife.
The court was told she received a lumbar spine fracture in the crash and five days later gave birth to a stillborn child, with the baby’s death caused by the collision.
Kandel’s defence solicitor Luke Slater said his client was aware of the devastating impact the crash had on the victim, and he and his wife had both made several attempts to phone and text her after the crash.
Mr Slater said Kandel — who moved to Australia in 2015 — had no criminal or traffic convictions.
“He hasn’t even incurred a speeding ticket in Australia,” Mr Slater said.
He also told the court Kandel worked in aged care and disability care in Shepparton and was a father of one child, with his wife pregnant with another.
“The sad irony of her pregnancy is not lost on them,” Mr Slater said.
The solicitor also said his client did his best at the scene to render assistance and “had excellent prospects of never offending like this ever again”.
Mr Slater asked the judge to spare his client jail and to sentence him to a community corrections order only.
Mr Cameron, however, said Kandel’s driving was “inherently dangerous” that day.
“He has at least 20 seconds he doesn’t appreciate the warning signs,” he said.
Judge Wendy Wilmoth upheld the sentence of a one-month jail term and an 18-month community corrections order, which includes 120 hours of community work.
Any programs Kandel completes during his community corrections order can count towards the community hours.
He was also disqualified from driving for two years.
In announcing her findings, Judge Wilmoth spoke of the physical and emotional trauma that had affected all aspects of the victim’s life.
“The collision had a devastating impact,” she said.
While she noted that Kandel had “excellent prospects of rehabilitation”, the community needed to see that poor driving would not be tolerated.