A British backpacker faces up to 20 years in jail in Australia after being charged with killing a pedestrian in an e-scooter crash.
Alicia Kemp, 24, is said to have spent six hours drinking before ploughing into the back of 51-year-old Thanh Phan on a footpath in Perth’s central business district on May 3.
Mr Phan died in hospital from brain injuries suffered in the collision. Kemp’s passenger, a 26-year-old woman, suffered a fractured skull and broken nose when she was thrown from the scooter.
Kemp was denied bail when she appeared in court in the city charged with dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm and dangerous driving occasioning death.
Her application was refused after prosecutors told the magistrate the risk of her fleeing in the face of a 20-year maximum sentence was too great, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Mr Phan’s family paid tribute to a ‘beloved husband, father of two, brother, and dear friend’.
They also called for a review of e-scooter hire regulations ‘to help prevent further serious incidents that put lives at risk’.
Kemp had been out drinking with a friend from 2.30pm on the day of the crash, the court heard.
After her friend was asked to leave for being too drunk, they were said to have walked along Murray Street and hired an e-scooter just before 8.30pm.
Kemp’s ‘inexplicably dangerous’ riding was caught on CCTV, the prosecutor said, with other pedestrians having to get out of their way to avoid being hit.
She was travelling at up to 25kph at the time of the collision, hitting Mr Phan while he was waiting to cross the road, the court heard.
Kemp is next due in court on July 15.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.