Hit-run plea: Stop and help

By Sarah Schwager
THE granddaughter of a Dandenong woman killed in a hit-run incident last year has appealed to drivers to think of the victim’s family and stop and help.
Margaret Stadnik, 27, said there was no excuse for running or trying to cover up.
“If you are panicked, at least turn yourself in a few days later,” she said.
“Who knows how long it took for her to die, before the next person came along.”
Doveton’s Mohammad “Jimmy” Lamha, 20, was sentenced in the County Court last Thursday to two-and-a-half years in a youth training centre over the death of Stefania Rapa, 83, who was hit as she crossed Clow Street, Dandenong on May 4 last year.
Lamha was charged with failing to stop, failing to render assistance and perverting the course of justice.
His parents, Mohammad Sharif Lamha, 43, and Karima Lamha, 41, each received a 12-month suspended jail term after they admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Ms Stadnik, who now lives in Cranbourne with her partner Tom Supel and four-year-old daughter Madeleine, said there had been mixed reactions within her family when the sentences were heard.
“I think a youth detention centre is appropriate. He’s so young,” she said.
Ms Stadnik said her grandmother and the family had been very close as Mrs Rapa had lived with her, her mother, sister and brother in Dandenong while they were growing up.
“She was such an important part of our lives. It’s just so sad that she’s not with us anymore. If she had died in hospital or of a heart attack, I mean, she was in her eighties. The way she died like that was really awful,” she said.
A Crime Stoppers tip-off led police to the Lamhas on May 16 last year, but the family claimed the car had been sold before Mrs Rapa died, and produced a forged registration transfer form.
Lamha confessed three days later, admitting he had replaced the wheels and windscreen on the car and hid it after fleeing the scene.
Ms Stadnik said when the family was found she had mixed reactions.
“Initially I was relieved that the police had caught someone, then I was really angry that the parents had covered it up.”
Ms Stadnik said her family had come to Australia from Poland at a similar time to the Lamha family and did not see that they had any excuses.
“I can understand (the parents) feeling frightened for him but I don’t see how it helped him.”
She said in the end there were no winners, with Lamha being jailed.
“There’s so much tragedy on both sides.”
But Ms Stadnik said she felt relieved that the court hearing was over and she could go on with her life.
“It’s a funny feeling having that side over. It’s very peaceful,” she said.
“After court (last) Tuesday I felt angry. I thought if he walks off with a suspended sentence it would be so wrong. I was surprised by how angry I felt. How would they feel if it was their family member. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.”
Ms Stadnik said when people went for their driver’s licence, there should be some sort of education about what to do in such incidents.
At the same time, local police have made a plea for pedestrians to take extra care when crossing the road after another fatality last week.
A 90-year-old man died on Tuesday 13 December after receiving head injuries while crossing a busy road in Dandenong.
Similarly, a 19-year-old Endeavour Hills man has been questioned about a hit-and-run incident in Endeavour Hills on Thursday 8 December that left a man, 26, with two broken legs and serious head injuries.