Read excerpts from SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and wife Emma’s victim impact statements to Adelaide court

Grant and Emma Stevens have delivered emotional victim impact statements almost a year after they lost their son Charlie to a young man’s “dumb decision”.

SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and his wife Emma have told the killer driver who cost them their son Charlie at Schoolies last year that he will never truly comprehend the gravity of his “dumb decisions”.

The grieving parents delivered their emotional victim impact statements to Adelaide’s District Court on Thursday.

It came as the young man who pleaded guilty to causing Charlie’s death and then leaving the scene delivered his own apology along with a statement from his mother during sentencing submissions.

EXCERPTS FROM GRANT AND EMMA STEVENS’ VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT

You cannot possibly understand what you have taken from us.

Your actions, that night, have changed us and our family forever.

We could not begin to describe the loss and, even if we could, you would not truly appreciate what the words mean.

Losing Charlie, just as he was becoming a man, has taken so much of the colour out of our lives … not a single day goes by where we don’t think about Charlie.

The important days are not the same anymore … where we smile and spend time together as a family, there’s a deep sadness that’s so much more acute than every other day.

Charlie would have been 19 this year … instead of celebrating, it took all our efforts just to get through the day.

We know that the grief is with us for the rest of our lives.

Charlie won’t be part of those important days other than as a memory and an emptiness we all try to deal with.

We see the changes in our children as they try to deal with their grief, and that adds to our sorrow.

SA Police Commisioner Grant Stevens and wife Emma leaving Adelaide District Court. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Charlie Stevens, 18, died after he was hit by the car Randhawa was driving at Goolwa during Schoolies. Picture: Supplied

Our hearts ache when our two-year-old grandson calls out Charlie’s name when he sees a photo of him.

You cannot possibly comprehend how much pain you have cost so many people – pain that doesn’t go away.

There are songs we no longer listen to without tears.

We see the pain in those boys (Charlie’s friends), particularly the ones that were with him that night, when you left him injured on the road.

We were at Goolwa when you took our son from us – we will never be able to go there again.

We acknowledge that you have taken responsibility for what you have done.

We are sure this has been difficult for you, but you get to move on – the people close to you still have you in their lives.

We don’t have Charlie.

We want you to remember Charlie and how your actions have taken him from us.

Now all we have are memories of him, and that’s not enough.

Dhirren Randhawa arrives at court. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

EXCERPTS FROM SOPHIE TREGLOAN’S VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT

You have taken so much from us in a split-second, dumb decision.

It’s Charlie’s heart I will miss the most … he was kind, inclusive of all, a pillar of strength.

He was the little brother everyone wanted, and we were the lucky ones (to have him).

He will always be an empty chair at family dinners, Christmases and birthdays.

Dhirren, it’s not just the impact your actions have … it’s now 11 months down the track and the pain is even stronger.

The shock is starting to wear off, it’s more pain and anger knowing we will never see our little brother again.

Your actions have hurt us in so many more ways than you think, having to pull family members out of the darkest of holes while you are stuck in one too.

(My son asks) “Where’s Uncle Charlie?” … trying to explain, to him, that his Uncle Charlie is now a bright shining star in the sky that overlooks and protects us is unfair.

I shouldn’t have to have a conversation like that with him, nor should a two-year-old have to comprehend it.

You (Randhawa) had aspirations of being a doctor … I cannot grasp how someone wanting to save lives could cause so much pain and leave Charlie dying on the side of the road.

Who would have thought your stupid and ignorant decision could leave two families in a world of pain?

Do I hate you? Yes, I absolutely do – but what I hate most is what you have taken from myself and my family.

Do I think of you as a person often? No – you are not worth it.