A learner driver whose sister was killed in a “tragic” car crash has been released after prosecutors admitted she had no knowledge of the accident.
Asyai Luk, 24, appeared in the Victoria District Court again on Wednesday morning and was fined $600 after pleading guilty to reckless driving and unsupervised driving.
In passing sentence, Judge Kellie Blair said she had taken into account the “unusual and exceptional circumstances” of the case when deciding not to record a conviction.
The court was told that on the morning of November 7, 2022, Luk borrowed her mother’s black Dodge station wagon before leaving home with her sister, Gol Luk, 24.
Shortly before 3pm that afternoon, Luk pulled over on High St. in Sunshine, where she approached a stranger and asked them to call the police. She said she had been ‘attacked’ by her sister.
CCTV footage from a neighbouring property captured Luk returning to the car and continuing to argue with Gol, who then got out.
Disaster struck when Gol tried to get back inside as Luk sped away.
Gol held onto the passenger door and was dragged by the vehicle before hitting the bull bar of a Nissan Patrol, which was ‘approximately a car length away’.
Asyai Luk, 24 (pictured) appeared in the Victoria District Court again on Wednesday morning and was fined $600 after pleading guilty to reckless driving and unsupervised driving.
Asyai Luk (left in the photo) with her sister Anong Luk, also known as Gol (right in the photo)
Footage previously shown to the court shows Gol crying in pain as neighbors run outside and Luk continues driving.
Luk was arrested shortly after returning home, four hours later, and her sister died that night in the Royal Melbourne Hospital from her injuries.
Luk was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death and fleeing from an accident, but those charges were dropped in June after prosecutors acknowledged she was unaware of what had happened to her sister.
Neighbors provided first aid at the scene of the accident before police arrived
“I recognise first of all the serious consequences and loss of life resulting from this tragic accident,” Judge Blair said.
The judge said she sentenced Luk to death taking into account the terrible consequences of the “unusual and unforeseen circumstances.”
“I accept that the incident occurred in less than a few seconds,” she said. “This offence was brief, unintentional and in the circumstances that you were not aware of your sister’s presence at the car door.”
The court was told the now single mother of a four-month-old boy still suffered flashbacks and nightmares about the incident and her family had suffered terribly.
In a statement to the court, the sisters’ mother, Aleza Gwit, described the past two years as a “curse she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy.”
“The impact was enormous and life changing,” said Judge Blair.