Man behind wheel of car which hit two young boys in Braybrook, Melbourne faces court

A child who was catastrophically injured when a car ploughed into him in Melbourne’s west was trying to save his three-year-old brother, a court has heard.

“I was being a big brother to my little brother, I pushed him out of the way so he doesn’t get hurt like me,” Huseyin Pek, 8, told his mother after the incident.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Mother of boy seriously injured when struck by car in Melbourne shares powerful impact statement in court

The accused driver, Thanh Ngoc Vo, 49, had arrived in Australia only five days before the September 2023 crash and was practising driving around the block in his wife’s car when he hit the accelerator instead of the brake.

The unlicensed driver, who has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing serious injury, ran over the young children as they were playing in a puddle behind their grandparents’ home in Braybrook.

Huseyin, who was seriously injured and has undergone several surgeries, may never walk properly again, while his little brother Burak Pek suffered minor injuries.

The boys’ family said they were relieved “justice is served in our favour” after Vo pleaded guilty on Wednesday.

“I’m still angry but I came here for my son and I’ll be here for him on our next court date,” his mother Demet Aydin said outside the County Court of Victoria.

Inside the court, a victim impact statement was read out in which Aydin described hearing the crash and fearing the worst.

“Everything went silent, slow motion ... all I could hear was revving and bang, bang, bang,” she said.

“I thought Huseyin must have been dead.”

Vo was pulling into the laneway when he accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes of the Toyota Prado, he told police.

He pushed on the accelerator even further and hit the two children and three parked cars.

Vo ran from the scene to his nearby home.

When police arrived at the home soon after, Vo fell to his knees in a prayer position and was arrested.

Prosecutors told the court Huseyin’s numerous injuries were “catastrophic” and required emergency surgery and almost two months in hospital.

He suffered fractures and deep cuts to his head, including a 20cm injury from his left eyebrow to the middle of his head.

“I can’t look at his face because I’m in tears,” Aydin said in her statement, adding Huseyin was once “the happiest boy” but his leg injuries mean he may never walk properly again.

“He wants me to give him a time frame for when he will be normal again but I can’t,” she said in her statement.

“I don’t know what his future looks like, maybe he won’t be able to walk properly again.”

Aydin added she hoped Vo would receive a lengthy prison term and be deported to Vietnam after serving it.

Judge Duncan Allen thanked Aydin for her “poignant, tragic” description of what had happened to her child.

“No doubt the most painful thing she’s ever had to do,” he said.

“The impact of what happened that day, and Vo’s driving, has been truly devastating in so many ways.”

Defence barrister Zoe Broughton asked for Vo to be assessed for a community work order but accepted he would serve some time in prison for the tragedy.

“I don’t think I could easily stand here and urge Your Honour to avoid any loss of liberty,” she said.

The hearing was adjourned to October 28 and Vo, who had been on bail, was remanded in custody.