A Sydney garbage collector who reversed over a pedestrian and hid his body has been sentenced to five-and-half years in jail by a judge who described his actions as "callous, appalling and morally reprehensible".
Tuiniua Fine was emptying bins in Sydney's CBD late one night in February 2020 when he reversed his truck in Central Street.
George Lin, who was walking in the shared pedestrian zone and looking down at his phone, was struck from behind, suffering "catastrophic" injuries as the vehicle passed over him.
Fine, whose truck reached a speed of 14 kilometres per hour before the impact, told police at first he thought he'd hit a milk crate or palette.
But when he got out of the vehicle, he saw 21-year-old Mr Lin's body. He then put on a pair of gloves and dragged the body into an alcove before continuing his shift.
Judge Sarah Huggett today found Fine's driving was "objectively very dangerous" and that he'd taken a "calculated risk of a very serious kind" by failing to properly use his rear-view mirrors and reversing camera.
His conduct represented an "abandonment of his responsibility as a driver", she told the NSW District Court.
The judge rejected Fine's suggestion he'd been caught in another vehicle's headlights.
She said the driver would have had approximately five seconds to detect and react to the presence of a pedestrian.
Instead, Fine had expected pedestrians to get out of his way, the court was told.
The judge said Fine's conduct after the collision was "spontaneous and not pre-planned", committed in circumstances of "panic, disbelief and shock".
Fine pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, perverting the course of justice and failing to stop and assist after an impact.
The 53-year-old was handed a total sentence of five years and six months, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months.
The court heard that Fine thought Mr Lin was still alive after the collision and that he "froze" and "didn't know what to do".
The judge accepted that he continues to be burdened by guilt and remorse.
Mr Lin's mother, Eileen Xie, last week told the court her "precious" son was an "excellent and hardworking young man" whose life was just beginning.
He was academically gifted and loved chess and tennis, she said in a victim impact statement.
"Losing him is a complete destruction for our lives," she said.
With time already served, Fine will be eligible for parole in October 2023.
He was also disqualified from driving for three years.
