“Chillingly dangerous” was how the judge described the teen boy’s behaviour.
In January of this year, at around 1 am, Sarah Paino, a mum from Hobart, had just dropped her husband, Daniel Stirling, off to work. With her was her 2-year old son, and she herself was 32 weeks pregnant.
Meanwhile, a 15-year old boy, who cannot be named, was driving a stolen Toyota Rav4 through the streets of Hobart at a speed said to exceed 100 km/h with the headlights turned off. Three other teens were in the car.
A few minutes later, the Toyota sped through a red light and collided with Ms Paino’s Nissan. The force of the collision was so strong that it pushed Ms Paino’s car across four empty lanes.
Fortunately, there was an ambulance just 500 metres away from the scene. Medical personnel responded to the scene and pulled out Ms Paino and her toddler son from the car. Miraculously, the 2-year old survived without sustaining injuries. However, Ms Paino was badly injured and had to be rushed to the hospital.
Unfortunately, Ms Paino sustained too many injuries and could not be saved. But another miracle occurred. The doctors succeeded in delivering her unborn child via emergency caesarian section. Ms Paino’s son, Caleb, was born just 20 minutes after the crash. The battle to save Caleb’s life didn’t end there as he didn’t breathe his first breath until 25 minutes later.
Baby Caleb’s father, Daniel Stirling, was thankful but heartbroken about his wife’s death.
“I loved her, still do and I don’t think I am going to find “”I won’t, I won’t I know it “” anyone that will come close to her,” he said.
The teenager who drove the Rav4 that rammed into Ms Paino’s car and took her life, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Supreme Court Justice Helen Wood called his behaviour “chillingly dangerous” and demanded a heavy sentence for the teen.
“His actions killed Ms Paino, nearly killed her unborn child and exposed her (backseat passenger) two-year-old son to the risk of death or serious injury,” the judge said.
On Tuesday, the teenager was sentenced to a jail term of 5 years and will be eligible for parole after serving just half the term.
According to ABC News, after the sentence was handed down, the boy’s family shouted, “Bye baby, you’re doing great.”