Driver who ran down an Asian cyclist in a fit of rage is finally jailed nearly a decade later
November 29, 2021
An unlicensed driver who deliberately ran over a cyclist, leaving him to die in the road, has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars after previously escaping justice, The Guardian reports.
Joanne Marie McAuley ran down Shui Ki Chan after he gave her the middle finger on a Queensland highway back in 2012. According to accounts of the incident, she took two separate highway exits to hunt down the 25-year-old Hong Kong national as he rode his bike home from work. McAuley claimed that she only intended to scare him but ended up losing control of her car. Chan's body was discovered the next morning.
An “inadequate police investigation” allowed McAuley to escape justice before she was finally charged with murder this June. During the years she avoided punishment, boasted to multiple friends and family about the incident. In one account, she claimed to have run down Chan because he was Asian and had reversed over his body “more than once."
After negotiations, McAuley pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on Monday. During her sentencing, justice David Boddice slammed McAuley’s “disgraceful behaviour.”
“Because of sheer rage and nothing else you caused the death of a 26-year-old male who was simply riding a bicycle home from work,” he said.
“You deliberately drove your vehicle, which you were incapable of controlling, so close to the deceased that it was inherently likely that he would be struck," he continued. “Your behavior on the night evidenced a complete disregard for human life. Your behavior in the days following and in the ensuing years showed your complete lack of remorse.”
As she was sentenced, McAuley collapsed and screamed, "No."
McAuley, 49, will be eligible for parole in 2026.
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