Hit-run driver Kain William Bowman, who killed father Kieran Hayward, eligible for parole in seven months
A YOUNG driver who mowed down and killed Kieran Hayward while he walked his two children home from soccer training will be eligible for parole in seven months.
- Victim’s torment: ‘Our beautiful family has been torn apart’
- Admission of guilt: How Kain Bowman changed his plea
A MAN who mowed down and killed a father while he walked his two children home from soccer training will be eligible for parole in seven months.
In the District Court on Thursday, the family of Kieran Hayward watched on as Kain William Bowman, 27, was sentenced to three and half years’ jail with a non-parole period of two years and three months.
Mr Hayward’s grieving widow did not speak at length when she left court but told reporters she felt the sentence was unfair.
As Bowman has been in custody since August 2015, he will be eligible for parole in seven months’ time.
Upon his release, Bowman will be banned from driving for 20 years.
Bowman, unlicensed, sped down Beovich Rd, Ingle Farm on August 6, 2015 and hit Mr Hayward, 45, in front of his young children, who escaped uninjured on either side of the road.
He later died in hospital.
The court could not determine how fast Bowman was driving in the 50km/h zone. Witness accounts ranged from 65km/h to 100km/h but Judge Sophie David said even at 65km/h the behaviour was still dangerous.
“There was no evidence of braking, swerving or evasion actions by (Bowman) to avoid the collision,” she said.
“You didn’t stop after the collision. You were aware you had hit and possibly killed someone.”
Police later found the white Ford ute torched 1.7km away in Celtic Ave.
Bowman, who had a mild intellectual disability, admitted causing Mr Hayward’s death by aggravated dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident after a jury found him mentally competent to be prosecuted.
Judge David pointed to Bowman’s long history of driving offences, and the fact he had never held a licence.
“Simply put, you should not have been on that road at all,” she said.
“The crash had been witnessed by his two young children and has had a terrible impact on the two young children and their mother.”
But she said Bowman’s mild intellectual disability reduced his “moral culpability” over the incident.
She also accepted that he was genuinely remorseful and his guilty plea had reduced his sentence.
Asked if she thought Bowman’s sentence was fair when leaving court, Mr Hayward’s widow Dee Hayward said “absolutely not”.
Visibly distraught, the single mother told reporters she “did not want to say the wrong thing” before walking away.
In her victim impact statement, she described the “traumatic” experience her children faced when they witnessed the speeding car hitting their father.
“What I had to do next was the most heartbreaking thing I had to do,” she said.
“I told (the children) the doctors couldn’t fix (Mr Hayward’s) body and God had taken him to fix him and give him a new body.”