A Pakistani disability carer who crashed an NDIS van and killed a wheelchair-bound grandmother in South Australia has been spared jail after a court heard she wants to bring her whole family to Australia.
Mahnoor Malik, 21, was driving Debbie Johnston, 59, on a family holiday in a disability transport van in Hayborough near Victor Harbor in September last year when she “misjudged” a turn and hit the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the vehicle to hit a tree.
Ms Johnston was killed in the collision and Malik and a 30-year-old female passenger were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Malik pleaded guilty to causing death by careless driving and aggravated driving without due care in March, and was sentenced in Adelaide Magistrates Court last week where Magistrate John Clover described the death as a “terrible accident”, The Advertiser reported.
He sentenced Malik to 26 days in jail, suspended on the condition she enter into a 12-month good behaviour bond, disqualified her from driving for one month, and gave her a $360 fine, noting her age, good character and lack of prior convictions.
Malik’s lawyer has asked for no penalty or conviction to be recorded so as not to affect her desire to sponsor her family in Pakistan to move to Australia, or her ability to register and practice as a psychologist.
The court heard Malik had been studying a bachelor’s degree in psychology since coming to Australia in 2023, and hoped to pursue a career in that field.
Malik did not speak outside court when asked about the fatal crash by 7 News.
She had limited experience driving large vans, and it was her first time driving outside of the city, but the magistrate accepted that she was driving cautiously and below the speed limit when she crashed.
Header image: Left, Mahnoor Malik outside court. Right, the scene of the crash (7 News).
