Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Hit and run driver who killed three sentenced

Hit and run driver who killed three sentenced

Hit-and-run suspect Meas Sokheng (right) walks into the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. Photo supplied
Meas Sokheng (right), who killed three people in a hit-and-run last year, walks into the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. Photo supplied

Hit and run driver who killed three sentenced

A man who killed three people in a hit-and-run crash last March – and then was beaten into a coma by a mob – was sentenced to three years in prison yesterday.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Nou Veasna also ordered Meas Sokheng, 30, to pay a $2,500 fine and $40,000 to the families of the three dead and one of the injured.

Three years is the maximum sentence for Sokheng’s charges, although Veasna suspended one year of the sentence. Sokheng has already spent 10 months in prison.

Sokheng was charged last year with “careless driving” after he tried to flee a minor collision and knocked over several motorcyclists as he sped the wrong way up Monivong Boulevard, killing a family of three and injuring eight more.

A mob, captured on video, quickly caught up to and brutally beat Sokheng into a coma and tried to set his car on fire.

At his trial in December, Sokheng appeared to have cognitive difficulties and was unable to recall even basic information such as his date of birth and where he lives. At the time, his lawyer asked the court to be lenient given his mental state, although neither side submitted a medical report.

Sokheng did not speak at his sentencing hearing yesterday, although he was heard later asking police to explain his sentence to him.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to