Overview
- ACT Policing has charged 80-year-old Maureen Brew with culpable driving causing death and a backup charge of negligent driving causing death after an investigation into the Mawson shopping-centre incident.
- A defence lawyer told the ACT Magistrates Court that Brew intends to plead guilty to the culpable driving charge, but she has not yet entered a formal plea in person and the matter was adjourned for a later hearing.
- The victim was four-year-old Osal Mayur Pokhrel, who was struck when a blue hatchback allegedly hit him and then continued into a shopfront; bystanders and paramedics treated him and he later died.
- Osal’s parents, Prakash and Chura, and their close-knit Bhutanese community in Canberra and Queanbeyan have sought accountability and said they hope the legal process brings changes to protect others.
- The next court appearance will require Brew to formally enter her plea and could determine the pace of the case, with the proceedings likely to shape whether criminal responsibility leads to sentencing or other outcomes.