Hussein Mangala pleads guilty to fatal Marrara hit and run
A prosecutor said he had been struck by the ‘power of forgiveness’ after a grieving woman asked for leniency for her husband’s killer.
Police & Courts
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A heartbroken Territory widow has shown the court the power of forgiveness, asking for her husband’s killer to avoid a stint in jail.
Just six days before Christmas 2021, a 27-year-old loving husband was crushed while laying in the middle of a dimly-lit Marrara road.
Prosecutors Damien Jones said the young man suffered “catastrophic injuries” to his chest after being run over by a car just after midnight, on Sunday December 19, 2021.
But in the darkness, driver Hussein Edward Mangala said did not see the young father’s body on the road or realise the horrific cause of the jolt under his wheels.
It was only when he later saw the flashing lights of police and paramedics at the scene that he realised something was terribly wrong.
But investigators said it took 16 days before the then 39-year-old turned himself in.
In Darwin Local Court on Wednesday, Mangala used a Swahili interpreter to quietly enter a plea of guilty to the single charge of hit and run causing death.
His defence lawyer Ambrith Abayasekara described his client as a “man of integrity” who was “doing his best in Australia for himself and his family”.
But he said when the Congolese refugee heard about the investigation he panicked, and instead of going to the police went to his pastor.
“His pastor reassured him that police in Australia are not like the police in his own experience,” Mr Abayasekara said.
The court heard Mangala used to be a teacher in the Democratic Republic of Congo — but like 1.1 million other externally displaced people was forced to flee his country due to decades of conflict.
Mr Abayasekara said while his client was not criminally responsible for the crash, he was guilty for leaving the scene.
Judge Thomasin Opie said she accepted that the refugee, former teacher, devoted churchgoer and doting family man was genuinely remorseful for his actions.
“This is a tragic situation,” she said.
Crown prosecutor Damien Jones told the court he had been struck by “the power of forgiveness” in this horrific case.
He said a victim impact statement from the 27-year-old’s widow said she did not want Mangala to be sent to jail, and wanted him to do community work.
In her victim impact statement she wrote that her “whole life has changed since his death”.
“I no longer have fun,” his widow said.
“I feel lost and sad.”
In his own letter to the court Mangala wrote: “I feel so sad I’ve made someone else’s family feel that way”.
Ms Opie said even if Mangala had realised what happened, the young father’s injuries were too severe for him to be saved.
She said 20 months after the fatal crash it was still unknown why the 27-year-old man was laying on the road.
Mr Jones said while it was an “unusual case”, crashes resulting in serious injury or death had to be sentenced appropriately.
“Over the last few years we have certainly had a spate of them,” Mr Jones said.
“The community jealously guards the sanctity of human life, as a result there needs to be a reflection of general deterrence.”
Mangala was sentenced to eight months in prison, fully suspended for 12 months.
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