Teen crash driver gets suspended jail

Teen crash driver gets suspended jail

An 18-year-old girl who was the driver of a sedan which collided with a passenger van on the Don Muang tollway in December 2010, causing the death of nine people, was given a suspended two-year prison sentence by the Central Juvenile and Family Court on Friday.

On the night of Dec 27, 2010, a Honda Civic driven by Orachorn "Praewa" Thephasadin Na Ayudhya, who was 16 at the time, collided with the passenger van on the elevated Don Muang tollway.

The van then crashed into a barrier near the Bang Khen exit. Passengers were thrown from the vehicle and fell several metres to the road below. Orachorn sustained minor injuries.

Victims' families have filed lawsuits seeking tens of millions of baht in compensation.

She was charged with unlicensed and reckless driving, causing death.

The court initially imposed a three-year jail sentence but reduced the term to two years because she had been helpful, reports said.

Orachorn's prison sentence was suspended for three years and she was put on probation.

The court also banned her from driving until she is 25 years old.

Before the court made the ruling, Pol Col Saran Nilawan, the father of Thammasat University first-year student Chutiporn Nilawan who died in the crash, said the defendant had never apologised for what happened, possibly because she might be afraid that it would affect the case.

"I hope the court's ruling will favour the prosecution and I don't think a 120 million baht compensation order would be too much when compared to the incalculable losses," the father said.

There was no immediate comment from him after the sentencing.

Relatives of some of the nine victims made merit before the court handed the ruling on Aug 31, 2012.

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