The Shilin District Court, which on Wednesday sentenced 22-year-old Yu Han-ning (游瀚甯) to 28 months in prison for reckless driving last year that caused a crash that killed two people, is drawing criticism for being too lenient.
As the first ruling in the case, the sentence can be appealed.
Many netizens denounced the court for handing down such a lenient sentence, given that it was Yu’s reckless driving that caused him to lose control of his Lamborghini LP560 and crash, killing his girlfriend, Liu Yin-tsai (劉映采), and a road-crew worker.
The court said that Yu was given a 28-month term because he turned himself in to the police after the crash and had reached a financial settlement with the families of the two victims.
The families agreed that Yu’s sentence should be reduced, the court said.
His age was another factor for leniency, as it held out the possiblity of rehabilitation, the court statement said.
Yu was charged with endangering public safety and causing death, which carries a minimum sentence of seven years, but the settlement and other factors warranted him receiving a shorter term, it said.
Yu took Liu for a joy ride on July 7 last year, and drove at a high speed — later determined to be between 140kph and 180kph — inside Taipei’s Ziqiang Tunnel (自強隧道), where the speed limit is 40kph.
Yu lost control in the tunnel, careening into three road workers, killing Liu and one man surnamed Chang (張) and seriously injuring the other two workers.
Yu sustained only minor injuries.
Yu comes from a weathy family, with his parents running the “Spiritual Ocean International Group,” which provides spiritual guidance and self-empowerment courses and has more than 300,000 members in China.
The Lamborghini was worth about NT$15 million (US$490,420 at the current exchange rate), although Yu did not own it. He had rented it from a dealership for NT$50,000 per week.
Some netizens said the ruling was another example of a court favoring the rich, while people with little money receive harsh and lengthy sentences.
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