A New South Wales police officer convicted over a crash that killed an Indigenous teenager will avoid jail, after a court handed down a sentence to be served in the community. The case has drawn close attention in Australia, where it touches on the sensitive issue of the death of a young Indigenous person.
The officer, Benedict Bryant, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment to be served in the community under what is known as an intensive corrective order. The arrangement means that, rather than spending the term behind bars, he will carry out the sentence under supervision in the community.
Alongside that sentence, Bryant will also have to complete 500 hours of unpaid community service. In addition, the court ordered that he be disqualified from driving for three years, adding a further consequence tied directly to the circumstances of the case.
The sentence followed his conviction in November of last year. Bryant was found guilty of dangerous driving occasioning death, a charge that placed the responsibility for the fatal crash at the centre of the court proceedings that have now concluded with his sentencing.
At the heart of the case is the death of 16-year-old Jai Kalani Wright. The teenager died in hospital after suffering serious head injuries when the motorbike he was riding collided with an unmarked police car in Inner Sydney in February 2022, an incident that ended his life and set the legal process in motion.
According to police, the motorbike the teenager was riding had been stolen, along with a car, and both vehicles had been spotted by officers nearby before the incident took place. Those details formed part of the background to the events that led to the deadly collision.
With the sentence now delivered, the case brings to a close a court process that has been watched closely by the community. The outcome, in which the officer avoids time in jail while facing community-based penalties, marks the latest chapter in a case centred on the loss of a 16-year-old.