On an evening walk to the shops with his younger sister and a friend, Jack Power should have been gone for only half an hour.
At a family gathering in August 2018, the three children received permission from their parents to stroll to the store to get groceries.
They got to the store, got what they needed, and were on their way home when a passing car ran a red light.
Zhou Hui Lu was driving home from work when the pedestrian crossing lights outside Melbourne’s Blackburn High School turned amber and then red.
The pedestrian signal was green, and the children were making a lot of noise as they crossed.
Jack, 10, was struck by the vehicle’s passenger side windscreen.
He suffered severe head injuries and died the next day in the hospital.
His six-year-old sister, who was holding the hand of an older friend, was just a few steps ahead of him.
After hearing screaming tyres and seeing the van approaching the crossing, the other girl, who was 12 at the time, had tugged the younger girl along and yelled for her to run.
The driver, Lu, admitted dangerous driving caused Jack’s death.
Prosecutor Melissa Mahady told a pre-sentence hearing in Victoria’s Supreme Court on Wednesday that he failed to react in time due to his inattention.
He came to a complete stop and ran to Jack, carrying him off the road before dialling emergency.