A dangerous driver who killed a woman while street racing in an illegally modified car has been sentenced to five years in jail.
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Claire Georgey, 22, was driving home from work when Mohammed Abdulmunim Saleh struck her turning car on Cumberland Highway in Sydney's west on September 7, 2020.
Saleh was driving an 800 horsepower Nissan Skyline which had been modified so as to be "incapable of being lawfully registered to drive on public roads", Justice Stephen Hanley said.
The car struck Ms Georgey's Subaru Forrester at 45km over the 70km/h speed limit in Merrylands West.
Saleh was racing a friend, Jim Spiros Malama, who was previously convicted of dangerous driving and sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order.
Ms Georgey was taken to Westmead Hospital immediately following the crash but was declared brain-dead a week later and taken off life support.
A passenger in her vehicle was also injured and required long-term physical rehabilitation.
Witnesses reported hearing accelerations prior to the crash and loud revving, with a "short screech and massive, massive bang" heard at the time of impact.
Saleh, 32, appeared in Parramatta District Court on Wednesday after previously pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
He was given an aggregate sentence of five years' jail, with a non-parole period of three years.
He will be eligible for parole on November 25 2026, with his full sentence running to November 2028.
He was also disqualified from holding a licence.
Justice Hanley said the cause of the crash was Saleh's excessive speed, and noted he had a history of driving offences including being disqualified from driving five times.
The judge read from the joint impact statement of Ms Georgey's mother and sister, where they outlined the pain the family had gone through in losing a "wonderful young woman" who had been denied the chance to live a full life.
"Lives should never be measured by the punishment meted out to the offender," Justice Hanley said, but the two victims and two distinct criminal acts made a custodial sentence the only appropriate option.
Australian Associated Press
