A Middle Eastern immigrant driver who crashed into a Melbourne primary school and killed an 11-year-old boy is set to avoid jail when her case is heard in court.
Shaymaa Oun Ghazi Zuhaira, 40, veered off the road and through the fence of Auburn South Primary School in her Toyota SUV on October 29 last year, fatally striking Jack Davey, 11, and seriously injuring four other children aged 10 and 11 who were sitting on a bench.
Seven months later the P-plate driver, a mother-of-three, was charged with the relatively minor traffic offences of “careless driving” and “failing to have proper control of a motor vehicle”, and court case details indicate she is set to plead guilty within weeks, Daily Mail Australia reported.
The careless driving charge has a maximum penalty of about $2,400 for a first offence, while the second charge has a maximum penalty of about $1,000, but Zuhaira would have faced up to 10 years in jail if charged with dangerous driving causing death.
It is unclear why Victoria Police did not lay more serious charges, why it took seven months for charges to be laid, and why two female officers, including an inspector, delivered bags of groceries to Zuhaira during the week after the crash.
The driver, who lives in Hawthorn East, had just picked up her own child after being called to a meeting at the school when she ploughed into the group of Year 5 students while attempting to make a U-turn.
Jack died of critical injuries while being taken to hospital, while two 11-year-old girls and a 10-year-old boy were all hospitalised with severe injuries.
Zuhaira was arrested on the day but released after being interviewed, and police then told media to stay away from her and her family because the attention was “causing deep distress”.
“This incident has had an absolutely traumatic effect on everyone involved,” police said at the time.
Zuhaira will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 1.
Header image: Left, Jack Davey (Instagram). Right, the scene of the crash (7 News).
