81yo grandmother Magda Pashley killed while crossing road
The family of an 81-year-old grandmother who was killed as she crossed a road is still waiting to receive one thing from the driver responsible.
A driver who cut a corner and killed a beloved grandmother who was crossing a suburban street on the way to the post office hasn’t apologised to the family.
Katrina Parker was charged with dangerous driving causing the death of 81-year-old Magda Pashley at Ringwood East in Melbourne on February 28, 2019.
The 37-year-old pleaded guilty and was ordered to serve a three-year community corrections order in the County Court of Victoria on Friday.
She must complete 250 hours of unpaid community service and her licence was cancelled.
Parker, a clinical psychologist who is pregnant with her second child, was travelling between 23km/h hour and 28km/h when she cut a corner onto the wrong side of the road when turning into the suburban street.
She was due to face a trial in March before she pleaded guilty to the crime.
The 81-year-old woman was nearly over the road when she was hit and died from traumatic head injuries days later.
Her son Henry Pashley said his mother was a “force of nature” who was lively and adored throwing parties for her family.
He was disappointed with the sentence and wanted Parker to spend some time behind bars.
But despite Judge Martine Marich finding the driver was genuinely remorseful, Mr Pashley said outside court that family had not received an apology.
“One of the things that’s personally offended me is there’s not been any sort of sign of remorse or contrition expressed to us,” Mr Pashley said.
He said Parker was thinking about her own circumstances rather than the impact on his family.
“I’d hope she takes some time now that she’s avoided the prospect of jail to stop and think about that,” he said.
Mr Pashley said the loss of his mother, the impact on his family and the lengthy court process was awful.
“The whole thing has just been a nightmare,” he said.
Ms Pashley was on her way to the post office to pay a bill as she had done countless times before, he said.
“She’d almost made it across the road.”
While everyone made mistakes on the roads, if Parker was paying more attention the fatal crash might have been avoided, Mr Pashley said.
Parker was on her way to work when she struck the grandmother. Parker rushed to help and was described as “shocked and distressed” at the scene.
She told passers-by and police that she “didn’t see her (Ms Pashley)” because she was blinded by the sun.
The judge said the crash had “catastrophic consequences” and Parker failed to look out for pedestrians, see the grandmother or give way as she crossed.
“If you had observed any one of those standards, you would not have killed her, as she was able to be seen, she was not shrouded in shadow, and she had successfully passed the point in the road,” Judge Marich said.
Parker lived a blameless life before the crash, did not have any drugs or alcohol in her system and was genuinely remorseful, the judge said.
She has also been barred from driving for three years.