‘Tragic’ consequences of sisters’ fight

A learner driver whose sister was killed in a “tragic” road accident has walked free after prosecutors accepted she was not aware of the crash.

Asyai Luk, 24, returned before the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday morning and was slapped with a $600 fine after pleading guilty to careless driving and driving without supervision.

Handing down the sentence, Judge Kellie Blair said she had taken into account the “unusual and exceptional circumstances” of the case when deciding not to record a conviction.

The court was told Luk had borrowed her mum’s black Dodge wagon on the morning of November 7, 2022, before leaving home with her sister, Gol Luk, 24.

Shortly before 3pm that afternoon, Luk pulled over on High St in Sunshine before approaching a stranger and asking them to call the police, saying she had been “attacked” by her sister.

CCTV from a neighbouring property captured Luk returning to the car and continuing to argue with Gol, who then exited the vehicle.

Tragedy struck when Gol attempted to re-enter as Luk sped off.

Gol was holding the passenger door and was dragged by the vehicle before striking the bullbar of a Nissan Patrol “about a car length away”.

Footage previously shown to the court depicted Gol wailing in pain as neighbours rushed out and Luk continued to drive down the street.

Luk was arrested shortly after arriving home four hours later and her sister died from injuries at the Royal Melbourne Hospital that night.

Luk was initially charged with dangerous driving causing death and fleeing the scene of an accident; however, these charges were dropped in June after prosecutors accepted she was not aware of what happened to her sister.

“At the outset I acknowledge the grave consequences and loss of life that resulted from this tragic accident,” Judge Blair said.

The judge said she was sentencing Luk for the death and took into account the terrible results of the “unusual and unforeseen circumstances”.

“I accept the episode occurred in less than a couple of seconds,” she said.
“This offending was momentarily, unintended and in the circumstances of you being unaware of your sister’s presence at the car door.”

The court was told the now single mother of a four-month-old boy continued to suffer flashbacks and nightmares of the incident and her family had suffered devastating impacts.

In a statement, the court was told, the sisters’ mother, Aleza Gwit, described the almost two years since as a “curse she would not wish upon her worst enemy”.

“The impact has been profound and life-changing,” Judge Blair said.