Liz Albornoz Epping crash: Keith Lockrey pleads guilty
An elderly driver who killed a mother-of-two could face jail after pleading guilty to negligent driving causing her death. The 89-year-old frail widower faced court this week where he told of what happened that tragic February morning.
Northern District Times
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An 89-year-old widower faces the possibility of jail after pleading guilty to negligent driving resulting in the death of a mother-of-two.
Keith Lockrey, 89, faced court this week to formally plead guilty to causing the death of Liz Albornoz.
The 40-year-old and a group of other mums had been sitting at an outdoor table in North Epping‘s Cafe Siziac as they did every Friday after dropping their kids off at school on February 29.
Just after 10am, Mr Lockrey had been driving a silver Holden Commodore on Malton Road.
He approached the intersection at Roma Street before turning right into a disabled parking space outside North Epping Shopping Village.
Yet when his car was almost fully within the lot, he then pressed the accelerator causing the car to accelerate forward suddenly, according to police facts.
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The car mounted the gutter and footpath before going over the edge of a retaining wall and onto the pedestrian walkway.
Ms Albornoz, 40, was pinned against the brick wall of the cafe with a table “pressed against her stomach,” the agreed facts state.
Court documents also reveal for the first time the shocking injuries suffered by many of her friends that morning.
Joanne Halmaric was “lifted onto the bonnet while still seated in her chair” as the car collided with the glass front doors of a nearby restaurant before being pinned by a table.
Angela Wesker was trapped against the front counter of the restaurant and Shailja Chandra was thrown through the air landing several metres away on the pavement.
Ms Albornoz suffered “catastrophic injuries” and went into cardiac arrest before she was revived by paramedics en route to the North Shore Hospital for emergency surgery.
Yet tragically she died shortly later in hospital.
Keith Lockrey, who was uninjured, was charged with three negligent driving charges including driving causing death which carries a maximum 18 months in jail.
Lockrey initially told police he had “pressed the accelerator instead of the brake by mistake,” according to facts.
The 89-year-old fronted Burwood Local Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to negligent driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning harm and negligent driving.
The Epping father who police said “expressed remorse” also previously tendered a two-page statement saying he put his foot on the brake as he came into the parking spot.
“I put my foot on the brake and the car came to a stop...I then reached to turn the ignition key off at the same time I took my foot off the brake as the car had stopped and was against the gutter,” he told police.
Yet police said that his account was inconsistent with CCTV footage and witnesses.
“At no point does it appear the Commodore came to a complete stop prior to the collision occurring,” according to police facts.
The court heard Lockrey lived alone in his Epping home since the death of his wife last year.
Ms Albornoz’s husband Victor Simone previously said he hopes to one day forgive the driver whose car crashed into his wife.
“I don’t want to feel hate,” he said.
“My priority is to help my daughters grow, to try to continue life as normal although it can never be the same.
Lockrey will be sentenced later this month.