The late 4-year-old, Osal Pokhrel – credit, supplied to ABC Au
“If the court is able to consider it, we respectfully request that she receive the lightest possible sentence.”
These unspeakably brave words come from a court statement penned by the bereaved parents of a 4-year-old boy killed after a car stuck their shopping cart in a parking lot.
The driver, an 80-year-old woman, pleaded guilty to culpable driving and negligence that occasioned the death of a pedestrian, a felony that carries a typical sentence of 5-10 years in prison according to Australian law, one which would have almost certainly encompassed the rest of the woman’s life.
Yet with courage profound, the parents have deemed that forgiveness shall be the salve to their shattered lives, and expressed in their statement the hope that the offender “can spend the rest of her life surrounded by her children and grandchildren.”
The story involves something which likely most readers will have done before. Canberra resident Maureen Brew was not losing her vision or hearing, but rather simply pressed on the accelerator rather than the brake.
She had pulled into a parking spot, and forgot to take the car out of drive. She opened the glove box while taking her foot off the brake, believing the car was in park. Brew realized it was rolling forward only when it bounced up onto the curb, at which point she slammed on what she thought was the brake.
In front of her was 4-year-old Osal Pokhrel in a shopping cart which his parents weren’t able to move in time. Osal was hit by Brew’s car, and passed away at the hospital some hours later.
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In a victim impact statement that will rend the heart of any fellow human, the grieving parents briefly recounted how “the pain touches every part of our daily lives.”
“Four years was not enough for us, and it should never have been all he was given. He was loved, he mattered, and he is missed every day.”
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In a statement from Brew, tendered by her lawyers, she described her “overwhelming remorse, shame, and guilt” at the consequences of her mistake, before adding “I am humbled and grateful the parents of the child say they hold me no ill will.”
Australian Justice Belinda Baker, presiding over the case, said she would carefully re-read the “incredibly powerful and gracious victim impact statement” when deciding the sentence that will be delivered at a later date.
SPREAD The Word Of This Incredible Display of Equanimity And Compassion…
