Sophie Brine, accused of killing delivery truck driver Jatinder Singh Brar in hit-run at Salisbury South, killed friend in ‘car-surfing’ tragedy
The driver who allegedly caused the death of delivery man Jatinder Singh Brar during a crime spree last Friday killed one of her best friends in a car-surfing incident nine years ago, a court has heard.
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The driver who allegedly caused the death of delivery man Jatinder Singh Brar during a crime spree last Friday killed one of her best friends in a car-surfing incident nine years ago, a court has heard.
Sophie Brine – who was behind the wheel of the car that killed Lauren-Kay Zadow-Mulvey in 2010 – faced the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday.
She wept as her counsel urged the court to consider home detention bail, saying Brine still struggled with the consequences of the crime she committed at the age of 16.
SA Police, however, said Brine had repeatedly driven unlicensed, offended while on bail, dodged court appearances and had a replica firearm in the car when Mr Brar died.
“I accept everything that has been said on your behalf,” Magistrate Bob Harrap told Brine.
“I do absolutely accept there has been an element of you perhaps not having fully dealt with some aspect of your past. But you’re already on bail and you have this history, so the reality is I have enough concerns and I’m not prepared to release you on home detention.”
Brine, 24, of Taperoo, has yet to plead to offences including causing death by dangerous driving, driving unlicensed, breaching bail and possessing a firearm.
It is alleged she was spotted driving a stolen white Ford Territory along Port Wakefield Rd, Cavan, at 11.45am on Friday. The vehicle had been stolen from an address at Golden Grove on December 28.
After a short chase – stopped, by officers, due to the stolen car’s speed – the Territory slammed into a Woolworths delivery truck just 200m from the Cross Keys Rd intersection on Kings Rd in Salisbury South.
Mr Brar, 25, had been driving the truck for two years while studying his Masters of Accounting, and had graduated just two weeks earlier.
His truck ran off the road and crashed into a tree. He died at the scene. It is alleged the Territory sped off, eventually stopping at Taperoo, where Brine was arrested.
At the time, police dubbed the crash “totally unnecessary” and the alleged driver’s conduct “totally irresponsible”.
Mr Brar, they said, was “acting responsibly” behind the wheel and “just going about his business”.
In court on Monday, police told Mr Harrap that Brine’s criminal history “all started” on the Worlds End Highway, near Eudunda, on October 22, 2010.
They said Brine, then 16, was driving a car when two sisters – Ms Zadow-Mulvey, 18, and Kelly Jonas, 30 – decided to “car-surf” on its bonnet.
Ms Zadow-Mulvey slipped off and died, while Ms Jonas was struck and killed by a passing car when she went for help.
The driver who killed Ms Jonas received a suspended prison term while Brine was placed on an 18-month bond and banned from driving for 10 years. At the time of her sentencing, Brine told the court she wanted to “share her experience with school students” and “explain the consequences of acts of stupidity”.
Brine’s counsel urged the court to ignore her past and order an expert report to assess her suitability for home detention bail.
They said Brine was a mother of four children under the age of 10, all of whom had been removed from her custody.
They said she was committed to regaining her children, had a new partner and had recently taken up work laying flooring.
“I think she has had her head in the sand for a lot of years after the tragedy,” counsel said.
“She needs appropriate scaffolding to get her life back on track. I believe she does need some hand-holding.”
Mr Harrap refused the application and remanded Brine in custody to face court again in August.
Outside court, Mr Brar’s friend Aman Dhillon said the family was relieved.
Brine was denied home detention bail, to the relief of Mr Brar's supporters. Aman Dhillon, centre, says Mr Brar's mother remains unaware he has died. @theTiser pic.twitter.com/f1QPOo5GRc
— Sean Fewster (@SeanFewster) January 7, 2019
“At the moment, we are thinking about Jatinder’s mother,” he said.
“We want to get him home to her (in India) as soon as possible … she still doesn’t know what’s happened to her son, she’s still praying that he will be all right.”
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