Judges in Denpasar District Court have handed down a one-year sentence to an Indonesian man found guilty of killing an Australian woman in a hit and run accident in Bali.
Benafentura Nggeo, 23, crashed into Australian Bernadette O’Connor earlier this year on July 31 around 1:30 am in Benoa, causing her death, the court said.
Nggeo showed “recklessness” by not honking or slowing down when he hit O’Connor as she was crossing the road in front of Peninsula Beach Resort in Tanjung Benoa, prosecutors had argued. Because of this recklessness, prosecutors had tried to push for an 18-month sentence for Nggeo, when the max penalty for reckless driving causing death is six years.
The court “finds the defendant guilty of negligence while driving a motorized vehicle which resulted in the death of another person,” presiding judge Muhammad Djaelani said, as quoted by the Australian.
During his trial, Nggeo admitted to being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and says he had come from a party right before the crash.
“The defendant doesn’t have driving license. It’s true that the defendant had some alcoholic drinks before the accident,” prosecutor Gede Wiraguna Wiradarma said in court earlier this month.
Nggeo was offered some leniency because he owned up to his actions and demonstrated remorse, the court said about the sentence.
According to the Australian, neither the prosecution nor Nggeo will seek an appeal.
“If we consider what happened to the victim one year (prison term) is fitting, not too harsh and not too lenient,” Nggeo’s lawyer Yulius Benyamin Seran told the Australian.
