Santino Bankal fled fatal crash scene because no one was looking after his cats
A driver who left a motorcyclist to die after a fiery crash in Brighton said he had to get home because no-one was looking after the cats. Now he’s pleading for a lesser sentence.
Law & Order
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A disqualified driver who claimed he fled the scene of a fiery crash with a motorcyclist because he had to get home to his cats now wants a lesser jail term, saying the rider would have died whether he stayed or not.
Santino Bankal, 30, pleaded with the Court of Appeal that his 22-month minimum sentence for failing to stop and help crash victim Ashleigh Gason was “manifestly excessive”.
The Sudanese refugee was not found at fault in the crash, which saw Mr Gason, 21, become engulfed in flames and die on the Nepean Hwy at Brighton in July 2017.
But he did plead guilty to failing to render assistance after an accident in which a person was killed, disqualified driving and using an unregistered vehicle.
Bankal said County Court judge Susan Pullen, when sentencing him to three years and four months with a non-parole period of 22 months, failed to take into account that “others in the vicinity of the collision were able to provide immediate assistance to the victim”.
He also argued Judge Pullen did not give enough consideration into the fact that “the applicant’s failure to render assistance had no deleterious effect upon the victim”.
But Court of Appeal judges Chris Maxwell and Phillip Priest today dismissed his appeal, saying it “lacks substance”.
“The judge was plainly correct to describe his conduct as ‘inhumane, callous and cowardly’,” Justice Maxwell said.
“The collision left the car, the motorcycle and its rider in flames.
“Although he might not have realised the extent of Mr Gason’s injuries, it must have been obvious to the applicant that life-threatening injuries had probably been suffered.
“Neither the presence of others nor the fact that Mr Gason was already dead reduced the applicant’s moral culpability in any way.”
Justice Maxwell said Bankal’s offending was aggravated by the fact he had been placed on a Community Corrections Order only four months earlier for offending including criminal damage and contravening a court order.
He said it was also “a matter of concern” that in March 2017, Bankal was fined $1200 for failing to give his name and address to a motorist after an accident, unlicensed driving, possessing cannabis and drink-driving after returning a blood alcohol content of .172 per cent.
His criminal history also included offences of affray, car theft, handling stolen goods, dealing with proceeds of crime and failing to answer bail.
The court heard Bankal had never held a driver’s licence and that his Holden Commodore was unregistered.
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Mr Gason was also riding on a suspended licence and his motorbike was unregistered.
Police determined he was travelling at a minimum speed of 112kmh in the 80kmh zone when he crashed into the back of Bankal’s Holden Commodore as he pulled onto the highway.
“I just heard a bang from behind and the car twist,” Bankal later told police.
“The car was burning. I freaked out and I ran away.”
He said he told his girlfriend, who was in the passenger seat, that he would report to police the next day “because there was no one looking after the cats”.
In June 2005, the maximum penalty for failing to stop and render assistance was increased from two years to 10 years.