At least eight years will pass for the life of the driver who ran a red light, killing a couple returning from their night duty at a retirement community.
On May 15, 2023, Oudom Doeun was driving his BMW at nearly 200 km/h approaching a crossroads in Caulfield South, Melbourne’s south-east, disregarding his passenger’s cries for him to slow down.
The companion yelled out to Doeun, “There’s a red light, stop!” just as the traffic signal went red.
Doeun persisted in his reckless driving despite his repeated cries of “red light, red light”; the driver only pressed the brakes thirty seconds before the collision.
On their way home from working at a retirement village, Santosh Adhikari, 32, and Pratima Thapa Adhikari, 22, a Nepalese couple, were stopped at the junction when Doeun’s BMW T-boned their Honda.
Tragically, the married couple lost their lives the moment their automobile careened off the road.
According to a victim impact statement that Judge Jeanette Morrish described as “powerful and moving,” the couple’s deaths had alienated the family and caused Adhikari’s mother to cry herself to sleep every day.
Telling Doeun, “Your driving was the sole cause of their deaths,” Morrish continued. “You put your foot to the floor, full throttle.”
According to Adhikari’s cousin, the 32-year-old remained late at work that day in order to accompany his wife home.
The court heard that just before the crash, Doeun had dinner with two people and split a bottle of red wine.
Morrish stated that he was driving without an Australian driver’s licence and that his blood alcohol concentration was 0.016.
No mechanical issue was a factor in the incident, according to her, and the traffic signal went red approximately six seconds before the BMW entered the intersection.
Doeun was doing 213 km/h one second before the accident and 190 km/h five seconds before it happened, even though the speed limit is 70 km/h on that section of road.
The 25-year-old was released from custody following the accident and has since volunteered full-time at an elderly care facility, opting not to drive or return to paid employment.
Two counts of careless driving resulting in death and one count of recklessly causing injury were accepted into his plea earlier this year.
Doeun received a 12-year, 9-month sentence with an additional 8-year term that cannot be commuted. It is highly probable that he will be returned to Cambodia after serving his sentence.
