Friends and relatives of three people killed in a horror crash in South Australia say they have forgiven the Italian tourist behind the wheel.
John and Cynthia Clark and their daughter Jackie were killed when Gabriele Cairo’s van hit their car at Everard Central near Blythe in November last year.
Friends of the Clark family say they don’t want to see Cairo jailed as the judge weighs how to sentence the foreign national, who’s stuck here on the other side of the world.
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“In this case, he didn’t mean to do it and we all agree with that,” Clark family friend Jon Reinke said.
“If he was a nasty person it would be a different ball game altogether, throw the book at him.
“But that’s not the way it is.”
Gabriele Cairo was on his honeymoon at the time of the crash.
The 29-year-old Italian tourist pleaded guilty over the crash which also injured his new wife.
Cairo had travelled all over Australia and has said he could not explain why he didn’t see the give-way sign.
“He’s extremely remorseful, he’s thought of the Clark family and their relatives the whole time,” Cairo’s lawyer Michael Woods said.
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The Judge said Cairo was a good man and a decent human being, who unfortunately took the lives of three people through a lapse in concentration.
The couple has been stuck in Australia for a year since the crash, with their visas set to expire before Cairo is sentenced.
If he’s jailed, his wife will likely have to return to Italy without him.
If he is given home detention, the couple will have to find somewhere to live.
Cairo’s lawyer is pushing for a suspended sentence so they can both go home.
“In our opinion, we don’t think he should go to jail, we can’t see the point of that – their lives have changed like ours,” Reinke said.
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