Driver who killed pregnant mother, twins and relative was allegedly four times over legal limit
THE unlicensed and speeding driver charged with killing a mother and her unborn twins as well as a relative was allegedly four times over the legal alcohol limit, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
NSW
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THE unlicensed and speeding driver charged with killing a mother and her unborn twins was also allegedly four times over the legal alcohol limit, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.
Blood tests on Richard Moananu have allegedly returned a reading of 0.204. The legal limit for licensed drivers is 0.05.
Police are still awaiting legal advice on whether they can lay fresh charges against Moananu, 29, over the deaths of Katherine and Bronco Hoang’s unborn twin boys and are expected to oppose his application for bail in Penrith Local Court on Friday.
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The father-of-four is facing 10 charges and is now in custody after being released from hospital this week.
He sustained leg injuries after his Mazda allegedly veered on the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with the Hoang family’s Nissan Tiida.
He is already facing a total of 10 charges as police have said in court documents that he was unlicensed and doing more than 105km in what is a 60km zone at 7.40pm on September 28.
Katherine Hoang, 23, was only days away from giving birth to her babies when Moananu allegedly crashed into the family’s car, killing a relative, 17, who was driving, and seriously injuring Bronco Hoang who was supervising the learner driver.
Charity worker Mr Hoang woke from a coma last week also in Westmead Hospital to be told the tragic news that his heavily pregnant wife and twins had died.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has since pledged to review the law after a public outcry that Moananu seemingly cannot be charged with killing the babies because they are not considered people until they are born.
The last time a bill came before parliament to change the law was in 2015 when it was passed in the lower house but was not introduced into the upper house.
A friend of Mr Hoang, Anna Dang, said the family would welcome a change in the law to recognise the death of an unborn child.
“Bronco’s family was outraged that the charges did not take into account the unborn babies’ lives,” said Ms Dang.
“Bronco and his wife and the families were planning their lives around their first grandchildren, what happened was a real tragedy.”