Why a drunken karaoke night could cost this man $160k
What started as a good night out at the karaoke ended in a police search, $140,000 damage to a house and written letters of apology.
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A MAGISTRATE has slammed a Korean student who crashed his car into a Runcorn house, badly damaging two rooms, and then ran off before police arrived.
Sungjun Kim, 26, came to Australia two years ago to better himself after his parents poured their life savings into helping him get a business degree.
But Kim’s own barrister, Martin Longhurst, had to admit his client’s action were a slap in the face for Kim’s parents and it was “dumb luck’’ nobody was injured.
Holland Park Acting Magistrate P.J. Byrne also described Kim’s behaviour as appalling and cowardly.
Queensland Police Service lawyer, Carmel Massingham, told the court Kim’s car ploughed into a house at Toorak Pl, Runcorn, about 2.15pm on October 5 last year.
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Kim was driving his Nissan Navara along Underwood Rd but veered off the road, hurtled down an embankment and crashed through a fence into the house, severely damaging a laundry and upper level bedroom, she said.
Ms Massingham said there were no skid marks, suggesting Kim had not tried to brake.
She told the court Kim then fled on foot. Police found his car with the engine still running and the keys in the ignition, with both front airbags inflated.
She said when police tracked Kim down the next morning he told them he wasn’t the driver and had last driven the car the previous afternoon.
Police noticed he had marks on his arms, which he tried to hide behind his back, consistent with injuries from airbags, and his arms were still bleeding.
Ms Massingham said Kim eventually admitted to driving the car and admitted three times that he had been drinking at a karaoke bar and had no memory of the incident.
At the time Kim was disqualified from driving, until April 2021.
Mr Longhurst said his client risked having to repay insurers for the $20,000 replacement cost of his car, which was written off, and for the $140,000 in damage to the house.
His father in Korea was a welder and not wealthy, while Kim had an income as a tiler but also did not have much money.
Kim would be applying for residency in two years when his student visa expired, so jail or a suspended sentence would potentially see him deported.
“Through sheer dumb luck no one has been injured,’’ Mr Longhurst conceded.
However, he said his client had not been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, had written an apology to the homeowners, had a character reference from his employer and would agree to pay $2500 to the homeowners to compensate them for their inconvenience and shock at the incident.
Mr Byrne pointed out that the letter of apology was written only last week and questioned whether the long delay showed Kim was genuinely remorseful.
“A cynic would call it borderline opportunistic,’’ he said.
Mr Byrne also pointed out that the police were unable to take a breath or blood alcohol test as they could not find Kim until the next day.
He said the chances of survival of a bystander when a vehicle was travelling at 80kmh was nil, and the chances of survival at 50km/h were only 50 per cent.
“This is an appalling case. What you (Kim) did was disgusting... and cowardly,’’ he said.
“What could have happened defies contemplation.
“I’ve been living on this Earth for many a decade and your vehicle in the house is almost as bad (an incident) as any I’ve seen.
“You did it in circumstances of contempt as you had already been disqualified.’’
Mr Byrne recorded convictions on all three charges of driving without due care, driving without a licence while disqualified and failing to comply with the duties of a driver.
He sentenced Kim to two years’ probation on the disqualified driving charge and 240 hours of community service on the driving without due care charge.
He ordered Kim pay $500 for failing to comply with the duties of a driver, as well as $2500 to be paid to the clerk of the court.