Driver who hit Sophie goes free: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. Weekend Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 21 Oct 2006: 5.
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At Sydney's Manly Court yesterday, magistrate Andrew George rejected police calls for a custodial sentence for John George Sharman, saying the 81-year-old had led a blameless life, served his country in wartime and expressed true contrition. Sharman was disqualified from driving for a year and placed on an 18-month good- behaviour bond.
Outside court, Sharman's barrister Shane McAnulty said his client was relieved by the sentence, and had been distressed by the case. Sharman refused to speak to the media.
SOPHIE Delezio's family has welcomed a decision not to jail an elderly motorist who drove through a pedestrian crossing, striking the five-year-old as she was being pushed in a pram.
At Sydney's Manly Court yesterday, magistrate Andrew George rejected police calls for a custodial sentence for John George Sharman, saying the 81-year-old had led a blameless life, served his country in wartime and expressed true contrition. Sharman was disqualified from driving for a year and placed on an 18-month good- behaviour bond.
Mr George described the case as "extraordinary and distressing" and said its impact on the now five-year-old Sophie and her family "will not be diminished by anything the criminal justice system can achieve".
In a statement issued afterwards, the Delezio family said: "We're very happy that the gentleman hasn't been put in jail. Now, hopefully, everybody can get on with their lives."
Sharman pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm over the accident in Seaforth, in Sydney's north, on May 5.
Sophie spent almost five weeks recovering from a serious lung injury and fractures to her spine, ribs, jaw and collarbone.
The accident came three years after she lost both feet and received burns to 85 per cent of her body when a car crashed into a daycare centre on Sydney's north shore.
Outside court, Sharman's barrister Shane McAnulty said his client was relieved by the sentence, and had been distressed by the case. Sharman refused to speak to the media.
Mr George said Sophie had become a national "benchmark for courage and resilience in the face of adversity", but the case had to be judged as if the victim were any other person.
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