A man who was sentenced after he caused a car crash that killed one person and seriously injured another in Wandin North has had his appeal rejected.
On 20 November in the Supreme Court of Victoria judges determined 25-year-old Anmoldeep Singh’s grounds of appeal weren’t successful and the student would have to serve the original sentence of three years and nine months in prison.
In February 2023, the Uber driver and student was transporting two Uber passengers Jessica Henning and Justin King to a wedding only a short distance away when he struck Jorja O’Connor’s car, causing it to rotate, roll and then hit an embankment.
Singh failed to stop at the intersection and was travelling at a speed of between 42-44km/h when he struck Ms O’Connor’s car.
Ms O’Connor was with her grandfather Lewis Carnegie and her great uncle Peter Carnegie when the car was struck.
Peter Carnegie suffered lacerations to his head and neck and suffered multiple fractures, while Lewis Carnegie tragically passed away from his injuries three hours later at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Singh supported his appeal on grounds of imprisonment exacerbating a mental health condition and his relative youth.
But, the judge rejected the evidence provided claiming Singh had suffered nine separate psychological disorders, as it was “expressed in quite adversarial, and subjective, terms”.
The claim that the judge’s original sentencing didn’t take Singh’s age into account also failed – it was found the judge actually had taken his age into account.
Other grounds of appeal were that the design of the intersection was to blame for his failure to stop and the sentence being excessive given his personal circumstances.
But these grounds weren’t successful.
In the original hearing, Judge Hogan said she didn’t think she’d seen an intersection with “so many advance warnings and markings”.
At 160m from the intersection at the time of the incident, was a sign warning motorists of the presence of pedestrians, cyclists and horses.
At 134m are signs on both sides informing drivers of upcoming rumble strips, with those strips starting at 111m from the intersection.
Prepare to stop signs can be found 85m from the intersection, with more rumble strips 42m away and then a visible stop sign 6.7m from the solid line intersection.
Singh had been living and studying in Melbourne since 2018 when he moved at the age of 19 and had been an Uber driver since June 2021.
He had multiple references from employers, friends and members of the Melbourne Sikh community who indicated his good character and the remorse and guilt he had felt following the incident.
As a result of his sentencing, Singh is likely to have his visa cancelled and will be unable to continue to pursue his studies in Australia.
His mother, who had travelled from India to support her son, was allowed to see him before he was taken away.
This context formed the basis of the argument the sentence was “manifestly excessive” given Singh’s personal circumstances.
But since the purpose of the sentence was to reduce further incidents of dangerous driving, the judge concluded the sentence wasn’t excessive.
