A speeding Indian driver who killed a beloved Australian mother in a horror crash in Adelaide and didn’t help her because his turban came off has been jailed for five years.
Former international student Bhupinder Singh, 24, maintained his innocence for two years before suddenly pleading guilty to aggravated causing death by dangerous driving in April, and then asked for a non-custodial sentence because of his religion.
Singh’s sentencing hearing was delayed last month after defence lawyer Paul D’Angelo told the court his client was unable to practise his Sikh religion in jail and was suffering “undue hardship” as a result.
But South Australian District Court Judge Paul Muscat on Friday found that Singh “deliberately drove at dangerous speeds” when his borrowed Ford Mustang slammed into a Holden Commodore driven by mum-of-two Christine Sandford, 40, on March 18, 2023, The Advertiser reported.
Judge Muscat sentenced Singh to five years, two months and 21 days in jail, with a non-parole period of four years, two months and five days, and disqualified him from driving for 15 years.
“You gave Christine Sandford no chance of surviving the impact,” Judge Muscat told Singh in sentencing, and described his driving as “astonishingly dangerous”, 7 News reported.
The court heard Singh has been ridiculed by other prisoners for wearing a turban since being remanded in custody, and has lost 9kg due to his Sikh dietary restrictions.
“This has resulted in, you consuming a diet essentially consisting of plain bread and jam, and a piece of fruit, or instant noodles, which has caused you to lose weight,” Judge Muscat noted in sentencing.
“You’ve also been unable to wash your long hair as there are no hair drying facilities available in prison and you cannot let your hair down to dry naturally because of your beliefs.”
Singh did not render assistance to Ms Sandford at the scene, and Mr D’Angelo told an earlier hearing this was because his client “was in a state of shock” because his turban had “flown off”, saying: “As a Sikh it’s almost like being naked in public.”
But Judge Muscat told the court on Friday Singh had shown concern for his victim by telling the first person on the scene to call emergency services.
Singh’s car had been going at extreme speeds of between 150 and 161km/h – 1ookm over the speed limit – when he T-boned Ms Sandford, who was only minutes from her Windsor Gardens home after making a quick trip to the shops to buy some cooking oil.
Outside court on Friday Ms Sandford’s father Chris Tucker said: “There are no winners, nothing will bring Christine back.”
In April another killer Indian driver was spared jail in the same court despite killing a young father while making an illegal turn.
And last year an Indian truck driver who ran a red light in Adelaide and killed a Chinese tourist was also allowed to serve his sentence of three years and four months in home detention.
Header image: Left, Bhupinder Singh (7 News). Right, Christine Sandford (Facebook).
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