Anastasia Stacey Panourakis: Mentone Grammar alumna jailed after killing Vincenzo Fata
A Clayton naturopath and former Mentone Grammar student who drove like a “bat out of hell” after she hit a man and left him to die was found sobbing at her father’s Black Rock home. But the woman or her family didn’t call police.
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A Clayton woman who left an elderly man for dead after she mowed him down with her car in Oakleigh has been jailed.
Anastasia Stacey Panourakis, 34, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars at the County Court on Tuesday, November 10.
Panourakis pleaded guilty to failing to stop after a motor vehicle accident and drive while suspended.
It comes after the Clayton naturopath, then 32, hit and killed Vincenzo Fata, 77, at the Ferntree Gully and Huntingdale road intersection on December 14, 2017.
The court was told Panourakis, who was 23 weeks pregnant and barred from driving, had stopped about half a car’s distance behind Mr Fata at a red light about 1.30pm.
Witnesses watched as Mr Fata, whose hazard lights were flashing, exited his Toyota sedan and approached Panourakis’ Mazda sedan while pointing to her car.
It’s unknown why Mr Fata left his car, with one witness reporting he was acting aggressively while others did not observe aggressive behaviour.
As the lights changed to green Panourakis reversed slightly before accelerating and slamming into Mr Fata, dragging him a short distance and speeding off.
One witness told how Panourakis moved like a “bat out of hell” as she sped down Ferntree Gully Rd before coming to a stop at Dandenong Rd.
The prosecution said another witness, who had followed Panourakis, got out of his vehicle and approaching her car said “you hit him, he’s dying, how could you do that?”.
“ (Panourakis) replied, ‘I’m coming back’,” the prosecution said.
Another witness described Panourakis’ driving as “totally erratic” as she swerved through traffic at the Dandenong Rd and Atkinson St intersection.
Meanwhile Mr Fata sadly died as paramedics rushed him to hospital.
Witnesses took note of Panourakis’ number plates, with officers tracking her to her father’s Black Rock home about 3.10pm.
Panourakis sobbed and held her stomach, telling husband Peter Laspas and her family she “shouldn’t have been driving.”
But neither Panourakis or her family members phoned police before officers found her, the court heard.
“You drove off without making any effort to return, you should have stopped and returned to the scene … not doing so is a serious crime,” Judge Michael Tinney said.
“You had no good reason to be anywhere near a car (and) you took a calculated risk as you had before.”
Mr Fata’s family members sobbed as Mr Tinney spoke of the victim impact statements submitted by his wife of 50 years as well as his children.
“The loss is just incalculable and no doubt his grieving family members must blame you for his death,” Mr Tinney told Panourakis.
“You know that contact with your car has led to his death … that plays on your mind heavily.”
The court was told Panourakis, who had no criminal history, had been suspended after speeding between 35km/h and 40km/h above the limit in the months leading up to the horror smash.
It was submitted the former Mentone Grammar student and mother to a young boy had experienced anxiety and depression following the incident.
“It is a reprehensible and callous thing to fail to stop at the scene (of an accident) … you should be ashamed of yourself — I believe you are — and that is a positive,” Mr Tinney said.
“One would never expect you to commit a crime as serious as this … yet you did.”
Panourakis, who had served no pre sentence detention, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars with a non-parole period of one-year and four months.
She was disqualified from obtaining a licence for four years.
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
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