A driver who sped through a red light and killed a couple driving home from night shift at a retirement village will spend at least eight years behind bars over their deaths.
Oudom Doeun ignored his passenger’s pleas to stop as he accelerated towards an intersection at Caulfield South, Melbourne’s southeast, in his BMW while travelling at almost 200km/h on May 15, 2023.
“There’s a red light, stop!” his friend told Doeun, as the traffic light turned red.
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He continued yelling “red light, red light” but Doeun kept speeding, only applying the brakes half a second before the crash.
Nepalese couple Santosh Adhikari, 32, and Pratima Thapa Adhikari, 22, were on their way home from working at a retirement village and paused at the intersection when their Honda was T-boned by Doeun’s BMW.
Their car rolled multiple times and both the married couple were killed instantly.
Judge Jeanette Morrish said a “powerful and moving” victim impact statement read to the court revealed the couple’s deaths had left their families isolated and Adhikari’s mother cries daily until she passes out.
“Your driving was the sole cause of their deaths,” Morrish told Doeun.
“You put your foot to the floor, full throttle.”
Adhikari’s cousin said the 32-year-old had stayed back late at work that day so he could head home with his wife.
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The court heard Doeun had dinner and shared a bottle of red wine with two others in the lead-up to the crash.
Morrish said he had a blood alcohol reading of 0.016 and did not have an Australian driver’s licence at the time.
She said the traffic light turned red about six seconds before the BMW entered the intersection and no mechanical fault contributed to the crash.
The speed limit on that stretch of road is 70km/h, but Doeun was travelling at 190km/h five seconds before the crash and 213km/h one second before.
The 25-year-old was on bail after the collision and has not driven or returned to paid work since, instead becoming a full-time volunteer at an aged-care facility.
Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to two charges of culpable driving causing death and one of recklessly causing injury.
Doeun was jailed for 12 years and nine months on Friday, with a non-parole period of eight years.
He will likely be deported back to Cambodia after serving his sentence.
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