A 24-year-old distracted driver who drove through a red light and fatally struck a three-year-old girl in Endeavour Hills has been jailed.
Kamal Ghali, 25, an osteopath from Endeavour Hills, pleaded guilty at the Victorian County Court to dangerous driving causing death.
In sentencing on 16 December, judge Trevor Wraight said it was a clear case of an “otherwise safe and competent driver” who didn’t drive with due care and attention when there was ample warning of the approaching pedestrian crossing.
Significantly for Judge Wraight, traffic red lights had been on for about 4-5 seconds before the crash – what can be a long period of time on an 80 km/h road.
It was self-evident that Ghali must have been distracted, Judge Wraight said.
Ghali was heading west and downhill in a Toyota Corolla on Heatherton Road, towards a pedestrian crossing near James Cook Drive shortly before 8.30am on 17 October 2024.
He was not speeding, had no alcohol or drugs in his system, wasn’t using his phone or driving erratically.
But he had been looking at the time on the car’s centre console and didn’t see the red light, he later told police.
Amelia Wang, also known as ‘Mila’, 3, was on the crossing with her older sister and her sister’s friend on scooters, her grandmother and friend’s grandmother on their way to a bus stop.
A driver trailing Ghali saw the danger ahead.
“I instantly saw and thought that car is not going to stop as it approached the crossing and red light,” she told police.
Amelia’s sister stopped her scooter suddenly, but Amelia kept running across the right lane and was struck by the car.
She was propelled in the air, coming to rest on the grass median strip 29 metres ahead. Ghali’s car was estimated to be travelling at 66-70 km/h.
Ghali stopped his car as Amelia’s grandmother cradled Amelia. He was heard to be yelling, and the friend’s grandmother told him it was a red light and pointed at the traffic lights.
“Why did you drive, why did you drive,” she said.
A witness with a nursing background tried to help Amelia. She asked Ghali – who was on the phone – to put it on speaker so she could give information to the operator.
Ghali shook his head and shrugged, indicating he was not talking to emergency services.
Amelia was taken to Dandenong Hospital, and died as a result of multiple injuries that afternoon.
Judge Wraight noted the “moving” victim impact statement of the victim Amelia Wang’s mother, who she had now lost purpose and was “existing rather than living”.
She has watched her family “crumble with the pain and loss”.
Amelia’s sister asks if she can go to Heaven to bring Amelia back home, the mother stated. Meanwhile her grandmother blames herself.
Judge Wraight said no sentence could reflect the value of Amelia’s life.
In a police interview, Ghali initially said he thought the traffic light may have been “yellow” and that a girl had run in front of his car in a “freak accident”.
When shown footage of the red light, he said: “I don’t know how this happened.
“It just breaks my heart just knowing – yeah that obviously is a mistake.
“And I’m just disappointed in myself, like, I’ve never done anything you know. I just can’t believe this happened.”
Ghali, born in Australia to Sudanese/Egyptian migrants, was a university graduate, and a member of a Coptic Orthodox church who had lived a positive, well-intentioned life.
He had no pre-existing mental health issues, drug or alcohol abuse or prior convictions.
Since his charges, he’d been “wracked” by guilt, a psychologist reported.
Ghali had since been diagnosed with an adjustment disorder and then PTSD, with reported anxiety and depression.
Judge Wraight noted Ghali’s young age, remorse and “very strong” rehabilitation prospects.
However Ghali didn’t meet the “substantial and compelling circumstances” test to avoid the mandatory jail sentence, the judge found.
Ghali was jailed for up to two-and-a-half years. He will be eligible for parole in 15 months.
He was disqualified from driving for 18 months.
