Gold Coast man Mina Hanna jailed after hit-and-run at Tallai
AS the car he was driving reached 80km/h, Mina Hanna simply couldn’t believe the “easy target” he’d tried to steal $100 from moments earlier was still clinging to the vehicle.
Crime and Court
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AS the car he was driving reached 80km/h, Mina Hanna simply couldn’t believe the “easy target” he’d tried to steal $100 from moments earlier was still clinging to the vehicle.
Hanna had lured Andrew Mavridis to the remote Hinterland road in Tallai early on May 3, 2016, with the promise to sell him cannabis.
After realising Hanna had no drugs, Mavridis reached into the driver’s side window and attempted to get his cash back.
Hanna hit the accelerator and began driving off as Mavridis clung on, before falling from the car.
As Mavridis, wearing nothing but torn boxer shorts, lay on the road with severe injuries, Hanna drove off.
He would later tell friends “there’s going to be a lot of trouble from this, watch the news”.
Hanna was yesterday sentenced to six and half years’ imprisonment for the hit-and-run and various other criminal offences at the Southport District Court. The court heard Hanna had deliberately targeted Mavridis knowing the father had a pre-existing disability from a skateboarding accident in 2010.
Crown prosecutor Michael Connelly said when police located Mavridis on the road he was bleeding from his mouth and nose and suffered a seizure before paramedics placed him in an induced coma.
Mavridis would spend the next few weeks in and out of intensive care and had been left with permanent disabilities including loss of speech and movement and was confined to a wheelchair and in the care of his parents.
Judge Catherine McGuinness said a victim impact statement from Mavridis’ father, George, “poignantly describes the tragic impact on his family”.
“Seeing our son unable to fulfil his potential is devastating and our greatest worry is that he will outlive us and need care from others,” a portion of the statement read by Judge McGuinness to the court said.
Having already served 15 months in pre-sentence custody, Hanna will be eligible for parole on March 7, 2018.
Outside court, George Mavridis declined to comment on Hanna’s sentence, simply saying there were “no winners” from the incident.
Hanna’s mother, Lydia, said her son intends to relocate to Victoria once he is released.
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