Hosea Niyomwungere in court for DUI, Parramatta hit and run at Argyle and Marsden streets

A drunk driver who ran a red light and knocked over four pedestrians left the crash scene to buy a Mexican meal.

A drunk man who knocked back a bottle of Soju before getting behind the wheel of a car and inflicting four pedestrians with “tragic injuries” at a Parramatta intersection in December left the scene to buy Guzman Y Gomez Mexican food, court papers show.

McDonald’s worker Hosea Niyomwungere, 23, pleaded guilty to the December 28 incident when he ignored a red light at the intersection of Argyle and Marsden streets, and injured people crossing the street, causing the front screen window of the Ford Focus to shatter like a “spider web’’.

Hosea Niyomwungere will face sentecing in May.

Documents show Ye Gu suffered broken bones including a fractured pelvis, Jie Lei had a suspected fractured lower leg, Shiyum Zhang suffered soreness to the right thigh and shoulder and Xiao Xue Shi suffered cuts to the hand and feet following the crash shortly before 9pm.

Niyomwungere, of Northmead, kept driving north a short distance on Marsden St before he and his two passengers ran back to the victims.

“On arrival, one of the passengers was overheard apologising to the victim,’’ the court papers said.

“The accused did not appear to show remorse for is actions, rather it was one of his passengers who demonstrated the utmost concern for the victims.

“Shortly after the accused has returned to his vehicle where he has entered the driver’s seat before parking it on Campbell St. The accused has walked down Marsden St to where the victims were before walking off to Guzman Y Gomez at … where he ordered food.’’

When he returned to the intersection, police “had occasions to stop the accused from getting closer to them”, court documents state.

“His clothing was dishevelled and at times struggled in keeping his trousers up and his eyes appeared glassy.

Guzman Y Gomez Mexican restaurant, where Hosea Niyomwungere got his Mexican food fix.

“The accused stated he did not know anything about the accident.’’

At the police station, Niyomwungere “became very slow and awkward, he was observed to sway and appeared to have trouble in standing up”.

“On one occasion a police officer was heard to ask the accused if he was going to fall over. The accused displayed difficulties in following instructions particularly when attempting to provide a breath sample for the breath analysis.’’

He admitted to being drunk and that he had consumed a bottle of Soju, a Korean liquor, court documents state.

In February, he pleaded guilty to failing to stop and assist after injury, not giving particulars to injured person, negligent driving and driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

At Parramatta Local Court on Wednesday, when Niyomwungere was due to be sentenced, legal aid solicitor Christian Hearn told the court he did not have a criminal record and had a difficult history as a refugee “trying to make his way in the world”.

“He has no degrees but he has spent time studying and he’s started a small cleaning business so he has come an extraordinary distance,’’ he said.

“This is an incident of extreme judgment in tragic circumstances for the people who were struck.’’

The matter was adjourned so a sentencing report could be prepared and will return to court on May 5.

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