Family of Adelaide mother killed in horrific accident tell of grief as man avoids immediate jail for death by dangerous driving guilty verdict

The family of a woman killed by an Asian tourist tell of their grief as the man avoids an immediate jail term after being found guilty of death by dangerous driving.

Harvinder Kaur died in a car crash on the Sturt Highway in August 2014. Picture: Supplied by family

She was a loving mother and devoted charity volunteer who selflessly helped those less fortunate throughout the Riverland.

The family of Harvinder Kaur, 57, told of their grief as the Taiwanese tourist driver who killed the mother-of-two in her Mazda sedan avoided an immediate jail term.

Sung-Hung Ko, 28, was on Friday found guilty of her death by dangerous driving after a trial over the 2014 accident on the Sturt Hwy, 1.7km west of Nuriootpa, in the Barossa Valley.

But a District Court judge found “good reason” to extend “mercy” and suspend his sentence despite Ko denying the charges and prosecutors calling for him to be placed behind bars.

Mrs Kaur, originally from the Indian state of Punjab, was returning to her hometown of Waikerie on August 19 for a Meals on Wheels volunteer shift after visiting her Adelaide-based children.

Ko, a business administration graduate from the capital Taipei, was driving 170km from Swan Reach to Adelaide, where he was lodging Australian Taxation Office paperwork for a friend.

The pair collided head-on at 3.15pm on a clear, fine day through Ko’s “gross inattentiveness” or his confusion as motorists drive on the opposite side in Taiwan, the court heard.

Sung-Hung Ko was given a suspended sentence. Picture. Greg Higgs

He was not, however, speeding or driving his Ford in a “loutish” way and had no alcohol or drugs in his system.

He was on working holiday as a fruit and vegetable labourer, first in Virginia and then the Riverland, where he was a popular resident in the local backpacker hostel.

Mrs Kaur’s son, Bick Singh, 33, of Northgate, and daughter, Sukhraj Kaur, 30, who has since moved interstate, gave moving victim impact statements, in which they told of their ongoing grief.

Mr Singh, who read the statements in court, said they had been planning to build a house, in which their mother would come live at and look after any future grandchildren.

“Our lives are empty without her,” he said.

Judge David Smith jailed Ko, who was also seriously injured in the crash, for three years with a non-parole period of two and half years.

Ko fought tears as Judge Smith, who returned his verdict without a jury, said he found “good reason” to suspend the sentence if he signed an unsupervised, $100 two-year good behaviour bond.

The scene of the fatal crash. Picture: Tom Huntley

He said he could not award him any discount for “contrition” because he had pleaded not guilty to the death by dangerous driving charge but admitted the lesser aggravated driving without due care.

“I don’t need to tell you what lasting, deep grief you have so unnecessarily inflicted on Mrs Kaur’s family by your driving,” he said.

Flanked by relatives outside court, Mr Singh said while an immediate jail term would have been “satisfying”, “nothing will bring her back”. “We have to cherish her memory,” he said.

Ko, who will return to Asia, was said he was remorseful. He is banned from driving for 10 years.