A car which swerved onto the wrong side of the road and mounted a curb has hit a bus stop pedestrian, "throwing her into the air".
"Early one summer's morning, [the victim] had the misfortune of standing at a bus stop when the defendant drove a car into her," magistrate Ian Temby said last month, when he found Krishna Hingu guilty of aggravated dangerous driving.
Hingu's sentencing proceedings began in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday, when her defence lawyer said the car had been "fully under control except for the sudden swerving".
But magistrate Ian Temby firmly pushed back on the claim.
"There was nothing sudden about it. You made the same submission at the hearing, that it was a transitory swerve," he said.
Mr Temby cited video footage of the December 2023 incident and said: "That's not transitory, that's not sudden."
Hingu's swerve onto the wrong side of a residential Ngunnawal street lasted at least 20 metres. There is no suggestion she was speeding or intoxicated at the time.
The magistrate said the victim was not looking at the oncoming car and had "no capacity to protect herself".
As a result, she was thrown into the air, landed on her back, and hit her head on the ground.
"Thankfully", Mr Temby previously said, the victim's injuries were limited to bruising to her left hip, buttocks and torso.
However, glass shards were also embedded in her left elbow after it struck Hingu's car windscreen with enough force to break the window. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment.
Hingu, who got out of her car to check on the victim, told police her steering wheel had locked and her brakes and handbrake had failed just before the accident.
No faults were found in her car after a mechanical inspection.
She reportedly also gave an alternative version of events, stating she had blacked out.
Hingu tried to fight the now-proven allegation that she drove recklessly, or in a way dangerous to the public, and that the victim was a vulnerable road user - an aggravating feature of the charge.
Prosecutor Archita Sreekumar said the incident was "not a sudden lapse of judgment" and while the now-overseas victim had not provided an impact statement, the court could infer she suffered and would have safety concerns moving forward.
Defence lawyer Rana Abbas said the act was not intentional and his client had shown concern for the victim, taken responsibility for her actions, and not fled the scene,
The magistrate ultimately refused an application made by Hingu's defence for a non-conviction order.
Mr Temby said submissions about the driver's visa being cancelled or her work being terminated were "mere possibilities", and the seriousness of the incident as well as general deterrence warranted a conviction.
The magistrate adjourned the sentencing to allow for a court duty report. Hingu is set to learn her fate later this month.
