Olly Sosene, 44, sentenced to four years in jail after hitting pedestrian with car and leaving the scene

An ex-professional rugby player whose car hit a pedestrian at speed before he abandoned her in the middle of the street with serious injuries that have left her in ‘constant pain’ has told a court he has no memory of it.

Sosene was sentenced to four years in jail, suspended for an operational period of four years after he serves 14 months in actual custody

A “grossly intoxicated” driver, who struck a pedestrian at speed and abandoned her in the middle of the street with such serious injuries that she now lives in “constant pain,” has told a court that he still had no memory of it.

Olly Sosene, 44, could face deportation from a jail cell following his Brisbane District Court sentence on Tuesday, in which a court heard he claimed to have no memory of striking pedestrian Cassandra Reddan on Saturday May 11, last year at Moranbah, southwest of Mackay.

Ms Redden, 46 at the time, had been walking home around 10.20pm from her work at the Moranbah Community Workers Club when Sosene struck her at speed near the intersection of Griffith Street and Mills Ave.

The court heard the collision occurred with enough force that nearby residents heard the impact and called emergency services.

Sosene then continued driving – leaving Ms Redden in the middle of the road with serious injuries including a fractured spine and pelvis, a broken femur and humerus, a shattered elbow, and lacerations to her kidney and spleen.

Ms Redden told the court at Sosene’s sentence this morning how she was forced to relearn “even the most basic task” after undergoing three surgeries, four “lifesaving” blood transfusions, and nine weeks in hospital.

She said she had always felt safe walking to and from work, until Sosene “recklessly” struck her and “fled the scene”.

“While I do not recall the incident due to amnesia, it has led to physical and psychological injuries I am still recovering from,” Ms Redden said.

Still on crutches today, she said she now lived in “constant pain” and that the psychological impact had been “unexplainable”.

Ms Redden said she now had to rely on others for simple everyday tasks and was suffering financially from the incident.

She explained she has been unable to return to work, and was still paying rent for her old place – despite not being able to live there due to her difficulty using stairs.

“There will never be a day where I don’t think about this incident and the effect it has had upon my life and those around me,” she said.

Defence barrister Jack Kennedy tendered a letter of apology to Ms Redden written by his client Sosene.

He explained Sosene had had a “cocktail of depressants” in his system on the night in question, including alcohol and Kava, after just finding out about a traumatic incident involving a family member.

Mr Kennedy said Sosene had no true recollection of the collision, but inferred he must have hit something when he saw damage to the car the morning after.

The court heard Sosene had been driving a company car belonging to his mining employer the night of the collision, after he had asked a work friend for the keys around 10pm to “lie down”.

Instead of sleeping, the court heard CCTV footage had captured Sosene “visibly staggering” towards the car and driving off – striking Ms Redden just 800m down the road.

The court heard Sosene “provided a false version” of events to police initially, saying he didn’t know who had driven the car involved.

But he pleaded guilty at an early stage in proceedings to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while adversely affected and left the scene.

Mr Kennedy said his client was a New Zealand citizen and faced the prospect of deportation upon his release from custody – which would separate him from his wife, six children, and grandchildren.

He said Sosene had resided in Australia since 2005, and before that had played rugby professionally in Hong Kong.

Judge Philip McCarthy KC said Sosene’s references described him as a “gentle giant” and a “loving grandfather”.

“I am prepared to accept that you are truly sorry for what you did to Cassandra,” he said.

Judge McCarthy said Sosene had been “grossly intoxicated”, however, and “in no way” should have been going near a car.

“(Ms Reddan) remains in constant pain, she has a constant reminder of what you did to her,” he said.

“She has had to suffer the indignity in which a relatively young, capable woman now depends upon others to shop, to attend appointments, to do everyday tasks.”

Sosene was sentenced to four years in jail, suspended for an operational period of four years after he serves 14 months in actual custody.

Judge McCarthy said he had moderated the time in actual custody down from the customary one third to factor in Sosene’s uncertain prospect of deportation.

Sosene was also disqualified from driving for three years.

A number of his children, who attended court to support him, were in tears as they watched him be taken into custody.

Originally published as Olly Sosene, 44, sentenced to four years in jail after hitting pedestrian with car and leaving the scene