‘Reprehensible': Man jailed, grandmother killed in crash
Instead, the 73-year-old was undergoing an autopsy after Andrew Julian Stewart-Smith crashed into her car at high speed with a stolen vehicle before fleeing.
The devastating aftermath was laid bare before Stewart-Smith, 29, was sentenced in Brisbane Supreme Court on Monday for his 'reprehensible' behaviour.
Heartbreaking victim impact statements in a court packed with family members detailed the fallout after Stewart-Smith ploughed into the grandmother's car in September 2023.
Yrsa Christoffersen was driving her daughter Maria to work when a Holden Commodore collided with her Suzuki Swift about 6.40am.
She died in the crash and her daughter suffered serious injuries.
'I woke up in a hospital bed, feeling pain like I had never known,' Maria Christoffersen said in her victim impact statement.
'I remember asking where my mum was and they wouldn't tell me.
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7NEWS
3 days ago
- 7NEWS
Glamorous Sydney mum Monica Aoun scolded by judge over appalling driving record
A young mum has been given a dressing-down by a judge over her appalling driving record — which has seen her suspended six times and remain on her P-plates for a decade. Monica Aoun, 36, who also goes by her married name Monica Hannoun, faced Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to driving with a suspended licence for a second time. She was issued with a court notice on May 8 this year after police caught her driving her Tesla through Blakehurst, in Sydney's south, to drop her children to school. Her lawyer told the court she had completed the three-month suspension but was stung on a 'technicality' as she had not gone to Roads and Maritime Services to renew her licence. He said Aoun was a 'full-time mum' who assists her builder husband, who has also lost his licence, and their inability to use their cars was a 'strain' on them. 'She is not getting much assistance from the family,' he said. But Magistrate Philip Stewart reiterated that she was driving while suspended. 'She's on her P-plates (and) has been on them since 2015. This is her sixth suspension,' he said. 'This offence occurred on the 8th of May 2025. Her record on page one (shows) she was suspended (and) has racked up further offences during the time she was suspended. 'She is fortunate to not have been charged on each of those occasions.' Aoun's lawyer told the court he understood all of the negatives of his client's driving history, but there was an extenuating situation with her needing to care for her children and her husband losing his licence. Asked by Stewart when Aoun's husband was due to get his licence back, the lawyer said 'not for a while'. 'On rare occasions you see cases that are astounding,' Stewart said. 'This is one of those records.' Stewart told the court Aoun got her leaner's permit in 2006, before losing it in 2009. Her licence was suspended in 2014 before she obtained her P1 licence in 2015. Stewart said her P2 licence was issued in 2017, before she was pulled over the following year for a speeding matter and not having P-plates on the car, which was 'consistent' with her previously found to not be using L-plates. In 2019, she was caught speeding without P-plates, then busted the following year for driving while suspended. Stewart said she was then nabbed speeding numerous times in 2022 and put off the road for the fourth time. The court heard she was given another suspension in 2024 and taken off the road after being caught speeding and parking in a disabled spot, while suspended. Stewart said Aoun was before the court because she had not completed the Traffic Offenders Program. 'It's not the worst driving record I have seen, but not many would top that,' Stewart told Aoun. 'You should be thoroughly ashamed. 'If you can't drive, don't hold a licence.' Stewart told Aoun he would not give her a conviction, but cautioned that further offending could result in serious penalties, including jail time. He placed her on a Conditional Release Order for two years, which will expire on July 28, 2027. Under the order, she must not commit any further offences while subject to the CRO, must appear before court if called upon to do so, and cannot drive unless her licence is valid. According to court documents obtained by Aoun was driving north along West Street at Blakehurst about 8.35am on May 8 this year when police automatic number plate recognition software picked up that her registration was expired due to a fine default. She was pulled over and showed officers her digital driver's licence, which indicated that her licence was both expired and suspended. Police checks identified that her licence was suspended from September 24, 2024 until December 23, 2024 for loss of demerit points, but the period was extended because she had not passed the increased Traffic Offender Knowledge Test. Aoun told police she knew she was suspended but 'has no choice' but to drive because she needs to get her kids to school. According to the documents, she further told police: 'My husband said something to me, like you need to call and sort it out, and then times goes by and I haven't sorted it out.' Further court records obtained by show Aoun's husband, Joseph Hannoun, was convicted of driving with a cancelled licence for a second time or more on May 13 this year. He was fined $750 and disqualified from holding a driver's licence for six months (until November 13, 2025). However, he was busted driving again and pleaded guilty in July to driving a motor vehicle during a disqualification period second offence. He is due to be sentenced in Bankstown Local Court later this week. Other records show he was also before the courts multiple times in 2023 for driving offences. In March, he was fine $750 and disqualified from holding a driver's licence for three months after driving while suspended. Six months later, in September, he was convicted of driving a motor vehicle during a disqualification period second offence and for larceny. For the driving offence, he was sentenced to a community correction order for a year and disqualified from driving for six months. In relation to the larceny, Hannoun was fined $500 and ordered to pay Bunnings Rockdale $699. It is not the first time the couple have made headlines, with their extravagant Bali resort wedding splashed on the cover of a magazine in 2014. The luxurious event — organised by celebrity wedding planner Diane Khoury — featured Anoun walking along a Perspex aisle on a pool, perched on a cliff with views overlooking the ocean. According to an interview the couple gave at the time, Aoun's wedding designer wedding dress by J'Aton Couture cost $30,000 and her engagement ring and two wedding bands feature a total of six three-carat diamonds. In Australia, three-carat diamonds range in price from around $10,00 to more than $100,000 each depending on their unique characteristics.
The Age
3 days ago
- The Age
The yellow Mercedes, bundles of cash, and meeting near the Big Merino
A road contractor has claimed an allegedly corrupt Transport for NSW official hassled him relentlessly to pay bundles of cash of up to $120,000 for inflating work contracts, and even pressed him to buy a luxury Mercedes-Benz car. An anti-corruption inquiry heard that Capital Lines & Signs director Andrew Stewart met the then-Transport for NSW manager Ibrahim Helmy on at least 10 occasions between May 2020 and 2024, including in a McDonald's car park near the Big Merino at Goulburn, where he handed over $85,000 in cash. Stewart confirmed that he paid Helmy cash of between $20,000 and $110,000 on each of their eight meetings, including payments of $100,000 on two occasions. '[Helmy] was relentless. He'd ring me out of the blue, and he would always harass me for money,' he told the inquiry. He also said that Helmy pressed him to pay in cryptocurrency, and that he wanted him to buy him a yellow Mercedes-Benz CLA45-S class car and put it in his sister's name. The inquiry was shown a text message Helmy sent to Stewart on February 17, 2023, which contained a photo of a yellow Mercedes-Benz car. Stewart said that Helmy had told him in a conversation two days earlier that he wanted him to buy him the car worth about $130,000. 'All I said to him was I'll look at it,' Stewart recalled to the inquiry. 'He sent me the details … but I never purchased the car. I did look online.' The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies, including Capital Lines & Signs, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW. Helmy, 38, is alleged to have pocketed $11.5 million in kickbacks – including bundles of cash, gold bullion and cryptocurrency – over 15 years from contractors, in return for them being awarded work. He failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The yellow Mercedes, bundles of cash and meeting near the Big Merino
A road contractor has claimed an allegedly corrupt Transport for NSW official hassled him relentlessly to pay bundles of cash of up to $120,000 for inflating work contracts, and even pressed him to buy a luxury Mercedes-Benz car. An anti-corruption inquiry heard that Capital Lines & Signs director Andrew Stewart met the then-Transport for NSW manager Ibrahim Helmy on at least 10 occasions between May 2020 and 2024, including in a McDonald's car park near the Big Merino at Goulburn, where he handed over $85,000 in cash. Stewart confirmed that he paid Helmy cash of between $20,000 and $110,000 on each of their eight meetings, including payments of $100,000 on two occasions. '[Helmy] was relentless. He'd ring me out of the blue, and he would always harass me for money,' he told the inquiry. He also said that Helmy pressed him to pay in cryptocurrency, and that he wanted him to buy him a yellow Mercedes-Benz CLA45-S class car and put it in his sister's name. The inquiry was shown a text message Helmy sent to Stewart on February 17, 2023, which contained a photo of a yellow Mercedes-Benz car. Stewart said that Helmy had told him in a conversation two days earlier that he wanted him to buy him the car worth about $130,000. 'All I said to him was I'll look at it,' Stewart recalled to the inquiry. 'He sent me the details … but I never purchased the car. I did look online.' The Independent Commission Against Corruption is investigating allegations Helmy was the mastermind behind corrupt relationships with nine companies, including Capital Lines & Signs, that were paid at least $343 million in contracts by Transport for NSW. Helmy, 38, is alleged to have pocketed $11.5 million in kickbacks – including bundles of cash, gold bullion and cryptocurrency – over 15 years from contractors, in return for them being awarded work. He failed to appear before the ICAC in May and police have a warrant out for his arrest.
