An unlicensed driver who pinned a boy between vehicles in Melbourne’s west last year has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for dangerous driving causing serious injury.
Vietnamese national Vo Ngoc Thanh, 49, had no driver’s license and was driving alone when he tried to park his wife’s car in a small alley in Braybrook before pressing the accelerator instead of the brake.
The result was, as Judge Duncan Allen put it on Friday, “a nightmare.”
Two young boys, who were kicking a football in the street, were hit by Vo’s out-of-control Toyota Prado.
A boy, then eight years old, was stuck between the Prado and another vehicle on the roadway.
The boy’s mother wept loudly in the courtroom as Judge Allen described her son’s “catastrophic injuries,” which required numerous surgeries, blood transfusions and ongoing physical and psychological treatment.
The judge said it was “a miracle” that the boy’s then three-year-old brother managed to escape with minor injuries despite being run over.
The court heard Vo had only taken a few driving lessons before the accident. (ABC News)
The judge said the entire incident was captured on security cameras and showed the boys’ grandparents “running forward in horror” and the boys’ mother “with her hands in the air in absolute terror”.
He said the older boy had made good progress in his physical and mental recovery, but his life was still affected by last September’s crash.
The court heard Vo was only in the country for five days after arriving in Australia to be with his new wife. He had only taken a few driving lessons in Vietnam and didn’t know what the requirements are for learner drivers in Australia.
Without his wife’s knowledge, he drove the Prado for a few laps and tried to park it outside her garage when disaster struck.
After the crash, police found Vo on his knees, praying for the injured boys.
On Friday, Vo was sentenced to 10 months in prison for dangerous driving causing serious injury.
The judge said the courts must deter people “from taking such shocking risks with deadly weapons.”
“You made a shocking error in judgment, a disgusting, poor decision to practice driving that day,” he said.
The court heard that Vo, who had no criminal record and a history of charity work in Vietnam, was still wracked with guilt.
“I owe your family the most sincere apology,” Vo wrote in an apology letter to the victims.
‘Please forgive me for what I have done. I hope your family will give me the opportunity to right my wrongs.”
Vo, who has already served four months behind bars, will have to serve another six months before being released. He will then have to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work over the next three years.
Vo was disqualified from obtaining a license for the next 18 months.
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