A BMW driver ignored his friend’s request to stop at a red light before slamming into a couple’s Honda at nearly 120 mph, killing them instantly.
Old Doeun ignored his passenger’s cry and accelerated as he approached the traffic lights, his foot on the gas pedal.
Doeun braked 0.5 seconds before his BMW collided with the silver Honda, which was waiting to turn right at an intersection in Caulfield South in Melbourne’s south-east.
Nepalese couple Santosh Adhikari, 32, and Pratima Thapa Adhikari, 22, were killed instantly as they drove home after a night shift at a nursing home.
Dramatic video footage was shown on Monday showing Doeun racing along North Road in his BMW as the 25-year-old was questioned before being sentenced.
Doeun faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of drunk driving resulting in death.
According to prosecutor Raphael De Vietri, Doeun’s foot was 99 percent on the gas pedal as he drove toward the traffic light at high speed on the evening of May 15, 2023.
“The traffic light is red, stop!” his friend, who was injured in the accident, said to Doeun when he saw the traffic light turn green.
Nursing student Oudom Doeun (pictured) will be sentenced next month for the fatal accident
The speed limit on that stretch of road is 70 km/h, but Doeun was driving 190 km/h five seconds before the crash and 213 km/h one second before that.
The BMW was traveling at 120 mph when it collided with the victims’ car. The car rolled over several times before coming to a stop upside down.
Puskal Bhusal said he was “devastated” when he heard his cousin and wife had been murdered just as they had started building a life together in Australia.
He described how Doeun’s ‘deadly adventure’ caused widespread grief and sorrow, both here and in Nepal.
“It’s all down to one foolish man who decided to drive full speed through a suburb,” he told the court through tears.
‘If you had stopped at the red light, they could still be alive.
“We wish that you never find peace in your life, that will be a fitting punishment.”
Doeun ran a red light before his BMW crashed into a silver Honda, killing a Nepalese couple. The photo shows the impact of the crash
According to Mr De Vietri, Doeun had deliberately chosen to drive through the red light when it was ‘almost inevitable that this would have catastrophic consequences’.
“The passenger’s warnings are clear,” he said.
“This is conscious, it is intentional, and it involves both speed and driving through the light.”
However, Doeun’s lawyer Philip Dunn KC said the fatal crash was a “fatal error of judgement” that lasted only seconds.
“He made a terrible mistake,” he said.
“Although he cannot explain his behavior, he acknowledges that it was his fault and that his mistakes had tragic consequences.”
Judge Jeanette Morrish said it appeared he drove through the traffic lights at high speed to avoid the red light.
“It’s a conscious choice to run the red light,” she said.
Oudom Doeun pleaded guilty to two counts of drunk driving resulting in death after the horrific fatal crash in May. The crash scene is shown in the photo
Doeun was “anxious” before the accident because his parents were ill and he had picked up his friend to drive to the beach for a chat, Mr Dunn said.
He said Doeun, a nursing student, had accepted that he would go to prison and be deported back to Cambodia after serving his sentence.
Doeun, who had been released on bail, has been arrested and will appear in court again on August 30 to hear his sentence.