The family of a schoolboy who was struck and killed by a bus outside his New South Wales school say they will “never be OK without him”, as they demand answers for the tragedy.
Cameron Millen, 14, was waiting outside Macarthur Anglican School in Cobbitty, southwest of Sydney, when he was fatally struck in February 2023.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Family of 14-year-old schoolboy killed in Cobbitty bus crash in court as driver sentenced.
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The Year 9 student was taken to Liverpool Hospital with life-threatening injuries before he was declared dead.
His family stood arm in arm at Campbelltown District Court on Friday as the bus driver, Penina Lopesi, 56, learned her fate.
Cameron’s brother was able to jump out of the way of the incoming bus as it mounted the kerb, witnessing his sibling’s fatal injuries, the court was earlier told.
Video footage played in court showed students boarding the bus before it took off and appeared to narrowly miss a tree when mounting a kerb.
The bus then slowed to a halt and Lopesi could be seen looking about as students left the bus in a panic and a crowd gathered.
She then started violently shaking her head and body in the driver’s seat.
On Friday, Cameron’s parents demanded answers, pointing to Lopesi’s driving record, which included traffic infringements such as using a mobile phone and running red lights.
“We want to know why she was allowed behind the wheel of a bus with children in her care, and we want to know why our youngest son was killed,” Cameron’s mother Michelle Millen said outside court.
“We won’t stop trying to get answers.
“Mrs Lopesi blew our family apart, and we will spend the rest of our lives trying to pick up the pieces.”
In sentencing, district court judge David Arnott said Lopesi “panicked” when the bus mounted the kerb.
“In the next 13 seconds, she mistakenly put her foot on the accelerator instead of the brake … resulting in catastrophic consequences,” he said.
He admitted “no jail term can return a loved one” but saw no other option but imprisonment.
Lopesi was sentenced to two years and will be eligible for parole in 12 months.
Speaking through tears, Millen said the family would never be the same.
“He was our sunshine and completed our little family of four,” she said outside court.
“We will never be OK without him.
“We will spend the rest of our lives trying to pick up the pieces and waiting for Cam to come home from school.”
– with AAP