Bonnie Power's young daughter replays the image of her brother lying on the road after being hit by a van every night before she goes to sleep.
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Then six, she was walking slightly ahead of her brother Jack when an older friend heard screeching tyres and pulled her along the pedestrian crossing they were on.
It was dark and it had been raining before van driver Zhou Hui Lu, not paying attention, ran a red light and drove onto the crossing in Melbourne's east.
Jack, 10, was struck by the passenger side of the van and his head hit the windscreen.
He suffered catastrophic head injuries and died in hospital the following day.
His sister "is plagued by an image of that night that keeps playing in her head", Mrs Power told Victoria's Supreme Court, where her son's killer was sentenced on Friday.
"She hopes her daughter will not spend a lifetime reliving that dreadful night, but only time will tell," Justice Amanda Fox said.
Lu, who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing Jack's death, avoided a prison sentence and was instead given a three-year community corrections order with 300 hours of unpaid community work over the August 2018 crash.
Jack, his sister and their friends had been given permission during a party to walk to some nearby shops and buy dinner supplies.
They got what they needed and were only minutes from home when Lu, not paying attention, ran the red light.
The 49-year-old carpenter was on his way home from work and didn't see the lights on the crossing outside Blackburn High School turn amber and then red.
The pedestrian light was green and the noise was sounding as the children crossed.
Lu hit the brakes but skidded through the lights as the children crossed.
"As this case shows, inattention can have catastrophic consequences," Justice Fox said.
After the crash, Lu got out of the van and carried Jack from the road to the nature strip before calling triple zero.
Justice Fox said he has been traumatised and has nightmares about Jack hitting his windscreen.
He prays for Jack and his family, and lays flowers at the scene on the anniversary of the crash.
Lu wasn't speeding or affected by drugs or alcohol and his risk of re-offending is low, Justice Fox said.
He would have risked being deported to China if handed a prison sentence.
Australian Associated Press
