WHILE justice was served on disbarred lawyer, Koobashan Naicker in the Durban Regional Court on Friday, the family of former Empangeni dance teacher Carmen Hunter (19), say the sentencing ‘will not bring back their daughter’.
Naicker (43) was given a six-year jail term for driving drunk, while on cocaine and medication, when he crashed into Carmen’s motorcycle, killing three people on Durban’s Athlone Bridge three years ago.
He finally pleaded guilty last October to eight charges including three of culpable homicide and one of reckless driving relating to the deaths of mom Gillian Bell (32), her son Connor (8) and former Empangeni resident Carmen Hunter.
Naicker admitted he had been drinking and snorting cocaine at the time.
Described as a ‘gentle child’, Carmen had moved to Durban from Empangeni a year before the accident to pursue her dream of becoming a dance teacher.
‘Nothing will change the fact that we will never have Carmen back. We are glad this chapter is finally closed but our loss continues,’ mother Wendy Hunter told the Zululand Observer.
Handing down the verdict, Magistrate Blessing Msani said Naicker had shown no remorse and had been having sleepless nights as he realised he would be sent to jail.
Naicker was sentenced to eight years, two of which were suspended for five years on condition he was not found guilty of culpable homicide in a case related to driving.
He was further sentenced to a total of three-and-a-half years, with the option of fines totalling R9 500 for drunken and negligent driving.
