Anmoldeep Singh fronts court for causing death of octogenarian

A woman has told a court of her grief at being unable to hold her dying dad’s hands following a horrific crash in Wandin North caused by an Uber driver who ignored a stop sign.

The family of a beloved grandfather killed in a horror road crash by an Uber driver who drove through a stop sign has spoken of their tragic loss in court.

Uber driver Anmoldeep Singh, 25, pleaded guilty in the County Court on Monday to charges of dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing serious injury.

Singh ignored a stop sign before the intersection of Clegg Rd and Wellington Rd at Wandin North on the afternoon of February 11, 2023 causing the Toyota Corolla he was driving to collide with another vehicle of the same make and model.

He was driving along Wellington Rd and carrying two passengers at the time while Jorja O’Connor was driving her 89-year-old grandfather Lewis Carnegie who was in the front passenger’s seat and his 87-year-old brother Peter along Clegg Rd.

Lewis Carnegie died at the Royal Melbourne Hospital less than three hours after the crash while his brother survived with serious injuries.

Police charged Uber driver Anmoldeep Singh with dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing serious injury.

The impact of the collision caused Ms O’Connor’s vehicle to rotate and hit an embankment before rolling on to its roof.

Singh was heard at the scene saying “I’m sorry, please tell them I’m sorry. Are they OK?”

Impassioned victim impact statements from Ms O’Connor and her mother Ann were read out following Singh’s guilty pleas.

Ann O’Connor described the crash scene as a “warzone” which was burnt into her soul.

“Unfortunately by the time I got to the hospital, my dad had passed. I couldn’t believe it. I wasn’t there to hold his hand, tell him I love him and give him a hug and a kiss.

‘And I had the horrible task of telling his brother, my uncle Peter, who was injured and not in a great way.

“After delivering that horrible news to him, I had to go to Maroondah Hospital and tell my daughter that her grandfather had passed. The cries were deafening.”

She said she could have also lost her uncle and daughter that fateful day, although her family would never be the same again.

Ann O’Connor said she would never forget her father’s face when he was being loaded into an ambulance.

“He’s a statistic of the road toll in Victoria. That in itself is something no family should ever be burdened with.”

Uber driver Anmoldeep Singh ignored a fail to stop sign and caused a crash that killed an 89-year-old man and seriously injured an 87-year-old man at Wandin North.

Her family was planning to celebrate her father’s 90th and her 50th late last year but said those milestones were ripped from underneath her.

In her victim impact statement, Jorja O’Connor said she picked her grandfather and his brother from an aged care facility on the day the crash hapepned and drove them around like she had done so many times in the past.

“When I get in the car, I am taken back to this day. It happened so fast. I’ve never felt so helpless and terrified in my life, not for myself, but for my passengers.

“All I remembered at the time was “I have to make sure they are OK”.

Singh will be sentenced on July 23.