A MAN charged after the death of one of his passengers in a 2017 highway crash has been given a conditional bond.
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Jamalmohammed Ramasamy Pandian pleaded guilty in Tamworth Local Court to negligent driving occasioning death as well as causing bodily harm by wilful neglect, while in charge of a motor vehicle.
The 37-year-old from Sydney admitted to negligent driving, causing the death of Jayanthan Murthy, in the crash on the Kamilaroi Highway at Baan Baa about 4am on November 24, 2017.
The 35-year-old victim was in the back of the Nissan Maxima, which was travelling north to Narrabri, when it left the road and crashed.
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He was airlifted to Newcastle's John Hunter Hospital, where he died almost three weeks later.
Pandian was also accused of causing bodily harm to a second passenger by wilful neglect while driving.
Magistrate Julie Soars convicted Pandian, disqualifying him from holding a driver's licence for two years, backdated to the crash in 2017.
She placed him on a community corrections order, or good behaviour bond, for 15 months.
As part of his bail after the crash, Pandian had been ordered to surrender his licence and not occupy a driver's seat.
Court documents showed Pandian was an Indian citizen in Australia on a student visa at the time.
He'd been living in Australia for five months and had had his licence for two months. He suffered spinal injuries in the crash.