A Sydney garbage truck driver who ran over and killed a Chester Hill grandmother has been spared jail - hours after apologising to the victim's family in court. em_partridge 9News MORE:
The 34-year-old driver, Christopher Sultana, pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death, which carries a maximum prison term of 18 months.Ruiming Zhang was hit by a garbage truck during her morning walk in Sydney's Chester Hill.
In handing down the sentence, Judge Sophia Beckett said there was a "critical but momentary" period of inattention by Sultana that led him not to see Zhang while the truck was reversing for a second time. However, she accepted in the moments before Zhang was struck she would have been in the truck's blind spot and that Sultana's driving on the day was otherwise "exemplary".Sultana was placed on a two-year community corrections order, during which he will conduct 200 hours community service, and was disqualified from driving for the minimum penalty period of 12 months.
Earlier in the trial, Judge Sophia Beckett found Sultana not guilty of the more serious charge of dangerous driving occasioning death, saying she was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt his driving at the time was dangerous.
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