QUT student killed after driver ‘didn’t see red light for seven seconds’

A woman who fatally struck a QUT PhD student on a Brisbane road after failing to see the traffic light was red for seven seconds will spend four months behind bars.

The driver, Airlia Paige Holman, a fellow QUT student who was 20 at the time, was in tears and shaking as her sentence was handed down.

Holman pleaded guilty this year to one count of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing the death of Arjun Srinivas on Kelvin Grove Road in inner Brisbane in 2024.

Crown prosecutor Stephanie Gallagher told the District Court on Tuesday Holman was travelling southbound on Kelvin Grove Road and had failed to see her traffic light was red when she hit Srinivas, who was crossing the road.

Photos of Holman’s windscreen demonstrated the force at which Srinivas was hit, in that he was propelled over the top of the car before landing on the road, Gallagher said.

Holman waited at the scene and told emergency services that she thought the light was green, the court heard.

Srinivas suffered catastrophic head injuries and about days later, his family turned off his life support.

“He was … a promising young man with a bright future ahead of him which has been snatched from him and his mother and sister,” Gallagher said.

Srinivas joined QUT as a PhD student in 2022, and had been working with researchers on the Australian Search Experience Project, and independently investigating the role of YouTube in curating news content for Australian audiences.

QUT said his research contributed to one of the most pressing questions of our time, which was how social media platforms were shaping news consumption.

Gallagher said Srinivas’ family had suffered through the painful experience of seeing him in the ICU at hospital after having flown from India.

Holman had a traffic history, including speeding offences.

“It was a clear night, it was 8.30pm at night, so [she] should have been aware people would have been around,” Gallagher said.

She submitted Holman should be sentenced between 2½ to three years, with some of that to be served in prison, along with a driving disqualification of four years.

The court heard Srinivas’ sister, Chaithanya Srinivas, had described how a huge hole was left in her life now her younger brother was gone. The court heard he was her best friend and closest confidant, and his death had had a significant impact on their mother.

Judge Jennifer Rosengren opened the court by saying she was incredibly sorry to the Srinivas family, friends and QUT colleagues in the court.

“He was a man in the stage of his life where he no doubt had a lot that he was going to go on and achieve and contribute,” she said.

Throughout the proceeding Holman cried, and at some stages shook as she stood in the dock.

Barrister Samuel Bain said the day of the incident, Holman had moved into a new house after previously losing her accommodation, and had been sleeping on a friend’s couch.

He said his client had shown remorse and distress, and now did not drive. Holman had overcome a troubled upbringing to go on to study engineering and science at QUT.

Bain submitted that she should face a two-year sentence.

Bain compared the offending to being lower on the scale and closer to negligence, rather than dangerous driving.

Rosengren interjected: “I don’t know if that’s the case … it’s not seeing a red light for seven seconds.”

The judge said Holman had been going to the movies that night, and had music playing loudly in her car.

She said Holman had accepted that the light had been red for seven seconds, and that her explanation for not seeing it was that she was simply failing to give full attention to her driving.

In sentencing, Rosengren said the maximum penalty at the time of the offending was 10 years, along with a minimum licence disqualification of one year.

“What can be said is that this was not an accident. Rather, it was an incident that did not need to happen. It was completely avoidable,” she said.

Holman was sentenced to 2½ years’ prison, to be suspended after four months. She was disqualified from driving for two years.

“The tragedy flowing from your offending is nothing short of extreme,” Rosengren said.

As Holman was escorted into custody, her family said goodbye to her as she sobbed.

Outside court, Daniel Angus, the director of QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre, where Srinivas worked, said QUT was continuing to publish Srinivas’ research posthumously, and his supervisory team had been incredibly proud of him, regarding him as a star student.

He pointed to structural failings that led to deaths such as Srinivas’ because of decisions to keep higher speed limits and deny access to active transport initiatives.

He noted speed limits on other major roads, such as Ipswich Road, had been dropped to 40km/h in some areas. The speed limit on Kelvin Grove Road is 60km/h.

PhD student Caroline Gardam said Srinivas’ loss would be felt not only through friends and family, but also through his research and what he would have offered the world.

“Arjun was brilliant and funny, and he was everyone’s favourite.”

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