Sarah Paino death: Teen sentenced to five years' detention for killing mother in Hobart crash.

By Georgie Burgess

The youth who killed pregnant mother Sarah Paino in a joyride crash in central Hobart earlier this year has been sentenced to five years’ detention.

The teenager had driven at high speed through the city in a stolen four-wheel drive before running a red light, slamming into Ms Paino’s car in the CBD in January.

The 16-year-old pleaded guilty to Ms Paino’s manslaughter in May.

The youth, who was sentenced as an adult for manslaughter in the Supreme Court in Hobart, will be eligible for parole after serving two and a half years.

Justice Helen Wood described the teenager’s driving as “chillingly dangerous” and said she had delivered a “heavy sentence”.

At the sentence, the youth’s family cried and shouted: “Bye baby, you’re doing great.”

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, remained emotionless throughout the hearing, and wore a suit jacket and shirt.

Victim’s baby delivered after crash

At the time of the fatal crash, the stolen car was travelling at an estimated 110 kilometres an hour with no headlights.

Ms Paino suffered catastrophic injuries and did not survive, but paramedics kept her alive until her 32-week-old unborn son was delivered a short time later at the Royal Hobart Hospital.

Her two-year-old son was sitting in the back seat of the car and also survived.

Ms Paino’s family and friends were at the court but declined to make any comments, leaving through a side entrance to the court.

Maximum sentence for manslaughter is 21 years’ jail

Prosecutors had called for the boy to be sentenced as an adult on the grounds of the seriousness of his conduct and his reckless driving before the fatal impact.

Manslaughter under the Criminal Code carries a maximum adult sentence of 21 years’ jail.

The maximum sentence for the same offence under the Youth Justice Act would have been two years’ detention.

The sentence had been adjourned for more than a month to allow for further psychiatric evaluations of the teenager.

Prosecutors told the court it showed the boy was not mentally impaired enough not to understand the gravity of his offending.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

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