The mother of a 16-year-old girl who was killed when the teen's boyfriend crashed his car into a tree says she is relieved the man has been found guilty of causing her daughter's death.
Alexis Saaghy died three days after the crash, in October 2020, after suffering catastrophic head and internal injuries.
Ameen Hamdan, who was 18 at the time of the accident in 2020, was charged with culpable driving causing death and culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, relating to a back seat passenger who suffered a broken arm and internal injuries.
But today, an ACT Supreme Court jury returned guilty verdicts for the lesser offence of negligent driving on both counts.
Ms Saaghy's mother Claire Wood welcomed the result outside the court.
"He has been found responsible for killing Alexis whether that is culpable or negligent," she said.
But she said it did not lessen the loss.
"Her life was stopped at 16 years old. She is not coming back," Ms Wood said.
"She was so close to taking off into the world and she was asking all the right questions.
"She was ripped from this f***ing planet."
Experts differed over suspected speed of car
The major issue in the case was speed.
Two experts called to make an estimate differed, with the police witness estimating the speed had been between 80 and 100 kilometres per hour, and the defence expert saying Hamdan had been travelling about 50 kilometres per hour, which was the speed limit in the area.
Prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea told the jury there was evidence from those in the car and a man who heard the crash that suggested he was speeding and drifting.
"He was going too fast on a wet road when he oversteered and ran into a tree," Ms Saikal-Skea said.
"In the moments before the collision, we say he was travelling well above the speed limit.
"The Crown says this collision should never have happened if he was not speeding."
The court viewed a video made by Ms Saaghy on her phone just before the crash, where Hamdan described himself as "Ameen Hamdan Drift King", as the song Tokyo Drift played in the background.
Hamdan's lawyer John Purnell pointed out that the two back seat passengers had heard him swear just before the car swerved and hit the tree.
He suggested to the jury there might have been a kangaroo.
"You cannot convict unless you can exclude the reasonable possibility of there being a kangaroo," he told the jury.
One of the passengers said he thought there might have been a kangaroo, but admitted he did not see one.
Hamdan said he had no memory of the crash after being injured himself.
The jury retired on Friday.
Hamdan will be sentenced later in the year.
