Libby Ruge: Jaskaran Singh refused bail after Wollongong crash
The driver of a car which slammed into a group of pedestrians, killing a teen, has faced court for the first time - a day after his passenger did.
NSW
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The driver of a vehicle that ploughed into a beautiful Illawarra teen, killing her in front of her friends, has been refused bail despite his lawyer arguing the crash was caused by his drunk passenger.
Jaskaran Singh, 18, faced Wollongong Local Court from cells at Wollongong Police Station on Tuesday, after the court heard he ran 20 metres from the horrific crash site on Saturday night and collapsed into the foetal position, overcome with shock.
On Tuesday, Singh’s defence lawyer Patrick Schmidt told the court the 18-year-old international student watched emergency services try and resuscitate 19-year-old Libby Ruge on a footpath on Flinders Street in Wollongong, and that the incident had “devastated” him.
Miss Ruge, along with her boyfriend Luke Day and friends Tye West and Eva Deans, were walking along Flinders Street just after 10.30pm on November 7, when a Toyota Camry being driven by Singh ploughed into them.
Miss Ruge tragically died while Ms Deans and Mr West were taken to hospital. Miss Ruge’s boyfriend escaped injury.
Following the crash, Singh and his front passenger Arpan Sharma, 21, were arrested.
The court was told Sharma admitted to police that he caused the crash by pulling up the handbrake.
He was charged with a raft of dangerous driving offences and was granted bail on Monday, walking from Parklea jail on Tuesday morning.
Singh, who has been charged with several offences related to dangerous and negligent driving, was refused bail by Magistrate Susan McGowan on Tuesday, who said he was a flight risk, due to the fact he is an Indian National and had few community ties.
Mr Schmidt told the court that Singh and Sharma were not friends, and that Singh was giving Sharma a lift home from a party because he feared the 21-year-old was going to drive home drunk.
He told the court the Toyota Camry Singh was driving at the time of the crash was not his, and that Sharma was the instigator, allegedly pulling up the handbrake and causing the vehicle to slide for 30 metres before it was released. The vehicle allegedly travelled a further 20 metres before “veering sharply” and colliding with Libby and three of her friends, “ejecting them forward” from the vehicle.
“The intoxicated passenger pulled the handbrake, he’s admitted that,” Mr Schmidt told the court.
“Mr Singh’s been charged for not reacting to that last 20 metres … he tried to regain control and could not.”
Mr Schmidt conceded the tragic incident was “horrible” and that people needed to be held accountable, but emphasised the “right people” needed to be held to account.
“Mr Singh is utterly sorry for everything that happened on the fateful night,” he said.
“There’s a lot of resentment (toward Sharma) in relation to everything that’s happened.”
Police Prosecutor Sergeant Tanya Pavlin argued the case against Singh was “strong”.
“Singh meets the definition of driver for the purpose of the charges,” she said.
“He was in charge of steering and braking, but ultimately he is the driver by definition.”
Magistrate McGowan refused Singh’s application for bail, agreeing with the prosecution that he posed an unacceptable risk of failing to appear in court.
