Killer driver faces court for atrocious driving on busy road

A boozed-up learner driver was seen speeding at up 190km/h, weaving in and out of traffic before he slammed into a Vinnies truck on the West Gate Bridge killing his best mate.

A boozed-up learner driver who was seen doing 190km/h in an 80km/h before slamming into a truck on the West Gate Bridge killing his best mate has been jailed.

Emanuel Kur, who pleaded guilty to charges of culpable driving causing death and to a rolled up charge of recklessly engaging in conduct that placed five others in danger of death, was jailed for nine years and six months imprisonment.

Kur, 23, had four others on board, including his best mate Kuol Jock Deng, when he went for a spin on July 5, 2022 in his unregistered Ford complete with the wrong number plates.

Kur was at one stage seen doing 190km/h in an 80km/h.

Judge Douglas Trapnell said nearby motorists reported seeing Kur, then aged 21, driving at “ridiculous” speeds prior to the crash.

Emanuel Kur’s Ford was badly damaged in the deadly collision. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David Crosling

Witnesses expressed their shock at Kur’s speed prior to the crash, with one man approaching the Todd Rd service station when the Ford “flew past” him, flying from one side of the road to the other at a ridiculous speed “in one swoop”, not pausing to change lanes one at a time, before proceeding up the hill to the bridge.

As the Ford went down the decline of the bridge, Kur lost control and ran into the rear of a Hino Vinnies truck. Two witnesses started CPR on Mr Deng while it took emergency services about 30 minutes to extricate Kur before both were taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with serious injuries.

His blood alcohol level was 0.209 — the limit for a learner driver is zero — and medical experts were of the opinion that level of intoxication would have significantly and adversely affected his cognitive skills, they said in their report to the court.

Kur suffered a complicated mild traumatic brain injury, facial fractures and a number of other injuries in the crash

To exacerbate matters, Judge Trapnell said Kur was in further breach of his learner licence conditions in that he had Mr Deng in the front passenger’s seat who did not have a full driver’s licence.

Emanuel Kur was only a learner driver when he got boozed up and took his friends for a spin that turned deadly. NCA NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

“What 5th of July 2022 demonstrates is you were completely lawless, you deliberately acted as if no laws applied to you and tragically, your friend paid a heavy price for your lawless behaviour,” Judge Trapnell said.

He said Kur displaced breathtaking disregard to the safety of other road users and that Mr Deng’s death was “completely avoidable”.

In a letter Kur wrote to express his “genuine remorse” for the crash, a copy of which was given to Mr Deng’s mother, he said: “ “I feel very bad, like a bad person, I hurt a lot of people, I’m not happy about all the pain and trouble I’ve caused to all of the families.”

Kur moved to Australia with his family aged five, after spending time in Sudan and Egypt where he witnessed violence, including his cousin being shot and killed on his fourth birthday.

Kur must serve six years before being eligible for parole.