The Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Wednesday granted bail to a 25-year-old man charged over the death of a 60-year-old mother of three, Beth Eden from Logan, near Brisbane.
Ratan Singh Sandip was charged with one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death, in January earlier this year.
The young man from India was driving along Milne Street when his car suddenly left the roadway and collided into Ms Eden while she was jogging on the footpath in the wee hours of the morning, just 300 metres from her Mt Warren Park residence in November 2018.
Mr Sandip will now be released from jail to await trial over Ms Eden’s death.
Beth Eden Source: Facebook
This despite the court was told that he booked a one-way ticket to India, via Dubai, as soon as he realised that he would face charges.
In January, the defendant was arrested by the police from Brisbane International Airport as he attempted to flee the country.
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According to a report in the , the police prosecutor strongly opposed the bail plea made by Mr Sandip’s lawyer, Andrew Bale.
The prosecutor cited concerns that if given bail, “the defendant will not stay in the country.”
However, after due deliberation, Magistrate John Byrne agreed to grant a committal bail to Mr Sandip under what he described as “onerous” conditions, which would require him to wear a tracking device, report to police daily, surrender his Indian passport and not leave the country or Queensland under any circumstances.
Mr Sandip appeared in the court via a video link. He told the Magistrate that he wanted to show the legal system that he was “not a bad person,” reported the Courier Mail.
He has been living in Australia on a post-study visa for over five years.
Meanwhile, the Beenleigh Magistrate Court told SBS Punjabi that the next hearing date has not been determined at this stage as the court is awaiting the public prosecutor to present the indictment.
SBS Punjabi has also reached out to Ms Eden’s family for comment.
