Hit-run a ‘tragedy for all’

By Sarah Schwager
A DOVETON man will spend two and a half years in a youth training centre following the death of an elderly Dandenong woman last year.
Mohammad ‘Jimmy’ Lamha, 20, was sentenced in the County Court last Thursday after killing Stefania Rapa, 83, who he hit with his car as she crossed Clow Street, Dandenong, on 4 May.
Lamha pleaded guilty to failing to stop, failing to render assistance and perverting the course of justice.
His parents, Mohammad Sharif Lamha, 43, and Karima Lamha, 41, each received a 12-month suspended jail term after they admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Mrs Rapa’s granddaughter, Margaret Stadnik, said there was no excuse for running or trying to cover up such an incident.
“If you are panicked, at least turn yourself in a few days later,” she said.
“Who knows how long it took for her to die before the next person came along.”
Ms Stadnik, who lives in Cranbourne with her partner Tom Supel and four-year-old daughter Madeleine, said there had been mixed reactions within her family when the sentences were heard.
“I think a youth detention centre is appropriate. He’s so young,” she said.
Ms Rapa was very close to Mrs Stadnik, her mother, sister and brother as she had lived with them when they were growing up.
“She was such an important part of our lives,” Mrs Stadnik said.
“It’s just so sad that she’s not with us any more.
“If she had died in hospital or of a heart attack, I mean, she was in her 80s.
“The way she died like that was really awful.”
A Crime Stoppers tip-off led police to the Lamhas on 16 May last year, but the family claimed the car had been sold before Mrs Rapa died, and produced a forged registration transfer form.
Jimmy Lamha confessed three days later, admitting he had replaced the wheels and windscreen on the car and hid it after fleeing the scene.
Ms Stadnik said she had mixed reactions when the family was found.
“Initially I was relieved that the police had caught someone, then I was really angry that the parents had covered it up,” she said.
Ms Stadnik said her family had come to Australia from Poland at a similar time to the Lamha family and did not see that they had any excuses.
“I can understand (the parents) feeling frightened for him but I don’t see how it helped him,” she said.
She said in the end there were no winners, with Lamha being jailed.
“There’s so much tragedy on both sides,” Ms Stadnik said.
She said she was relieved the court hearing was over and she could go on with her life.
“It’s a funny feeling having that side over. It’s very peaceful,” she said.
“After (the court hearing last) Tuesday I felt angry. I thought if he walks off with a suspended sentence it would be so wrong. I was surprised by how angry I felt.
“How would they feel if it was their family member? I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone.”
Ms Stadnik said when people went for their driver’s licence, there should be some sort of education about what to do in such incidents.
Meanwhile, local police have also made a plea for pedestrians to take extra care when crossing the road after another fatality last week.
A 90-year-old man died on Tuesday, 13 December after receiving head injuries while crossing a busy road in Dandenong.
A 19-year-old Endeavour Hills man has been questioned about a hit-and-run incident in Endeavour Hills on Thursday, 8 December in which a 26-year-old-man received two broken legs and serious head injuries.