'Ridiculous': mum slams sentence for car crash cover-up

Angelina Kauffman (file)
Angelina Kauffman said "my kids died for nothing" about the sentence for the crash cover-up. -AAP Image

"There's no justice here."

They were the heartbreaking words of a mother who just learned a man will avoid jail after he tried to conceal the truth about a crash that killed her two children. 

Kagadour Hanna Kokozian, 64, handed the keys to a brand new Mercedes SUV to his son Johnson on the night of September 1, 2023, despite him having a suspended licence.

The 23-year-old had been joyriding with friends on the wrong side of the road and 50km/h over the speed limit in the western Sydney suburb of Heckenberg when he smashed head-on into a car carrying two siblings.

Johnson fled without stopping to help Alina Kauffman, 24, and Ernesto Salazar, 15, who died at the scene.

Judge David Arnott said his father "knew precisely what he was doing" when he misled police by falsely reporting the SUV as stolen to protect his son.

The former kitchen hand's offence was unpremeditated and stemmed from panic, Judge Arnott ruled. 

But "his actions grew into considered activity extending for a number of days" and he showed no reluctance, the judge said.

He took Kokozian's remorse and reasonable prospects of rehabilitation into account as he sentenced him to a 15-month jail term to be served in the community with the condition he continue psychological counselling.

The elder Kokozian sat hunched over his cane with his head in hands as Judge Arnott recounted the 64-year-old's efforts to deceive police. 

They included lying to a triple-zero operator and on a police form about the car being stolen, as well as in multiple statements, not changing his tune until he was arrested five days after the crash.

Judge Arnott described the victims' mother, grandmother and sister as "shattered with grief and changed forever" by the crash Kokozian tried to conceal.

The victims' mother Angelina Kauffman looked on from the gallery as Judge Arnott handed down his decision in Campbelltown District Court on Thursday.

She labelled the penalty "a load of crap", bemoaning "my kids died for nothing".

"In Australia, you can do whatever you want and just get away with it," Ms Kauffman told AAP on Thursday. 

"You can kill someone, no problem, you can cover it up, no problem, you can lie to police no problem."

Kokozian's son was in March jailed for nine years for causing the fatal crash and abandoning the two victims.

He is eligible for parole in as little as three years with time served after his manslaughter charges were replaced with driving offences.

Ms Kauffman gathered more than 20,000 signatures on a petition requesting NSW parliament consider increasing the maximum penalties for serious road crimes.

But a subsequent Law Reform Commission review found a new vehicular manslaughter offence was unnecessary, deeming higher maximum penalties unlikely to be a deterrent.

"I'll never give up fighting for my kids," Ms Kauffman vowed.