The mother of a 12-year-old boy fatally struck outside his Hobart school says she has been left without justice after the driver responsible received a suspended prison sentence.
Elena Anita Begovic, 51, was given a four-month jail term, wholly suspended for two years, in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Marshall Oakley-Stagg died on April 5, 2024, after being hit by Begovic’s car as he walked home from Cosgrove High School with friends.
Footage showed Begovic failed to slow down or stop as she pulled out of the school pick-up area onto the main road.
Magistrate Robert Webster said she did not look left before driving forward, despite knowing bushes beside the lane created a blind spot.
He said Marshall would have been visible had she checked.
Begovic had been collecting her own children from the school since 2022 and was familiar with the heavy foot traffic.
That familiarity, the magistrate said, meant a higher level of care and vigilance was required.
He described her negligence as fleeting but with disastrous consequences.
Marshall’s mother Karina Stagg said she was shattered by the outcome.
She remembered her son as a happy, cheeky and one-of-a-kind boy who always looked out for his friends.
“His life meant more,” she said outside court. “She has destroyed our lives and we will never be the same.”
“There needs to be a change to our laws and our justice system to do with crimes with vehicles.”
“There is no justice for our family. It’s a kick in the guts.”
Magistrate Webster acknowledged no sentence could repair the family’s loss, saying there were “no winners” in the case.
Begovic had pleaded guilty to negligent driving causing death.
The court heard she now suffers from PTSD and anxiety.
She was disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay just over $1,000 in fines and court costs.
