The partner of a young woman killed while crossing a Sydney road has revealed he'd purchased a diamond ring and was planning a surprise wedding proposal when she was mowed down by a truck.
Aaron Roberts instead placed the ring on Danielle McGrath's finger at her funeral, held two weeks after the 26-year-old was killed on her way to work in November 2016.
He said her death had left a massive hole in his heart that he would carry for the rest of his life.
"I lost the brightest part of my day, my best friend and my future wife," an emotional Mr Roberts told the NSW District Court on Thursday.
He was reading his victim impact statement at a packed sentence hearing for truck driver David William Edward Grice, who last year pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death.
Crown prosecutor Georgia Turner said Grice, now 60, struck Ms McGrath after running a red light to turn right at an intersection in Caringbah in Sydney's south.
Mr Roberts arrived at the scene to see his partner of almost six years covered by a sheet with her handbag and belongings strewn across the road.
Ms McGrath's father, Bill, said he would never forget his wife's screams after Mr Roberts called to tell them their daughter was dead.
"Every day since my wife cries herself to sleep and wakes up the same," Mr McGrath said.
"She sleeps with a piece of Danielle's clothing under her head for comfort."
He said it was incredible to witness Mr Roberts putting a ring on his daughter's finger at her funeral but it was also unbearable to see the young man go through so much pain.
Grice, in an apology letter he read to the court, said he couldn't change what had happened and he was "terribly, terribly sorry".
"I am grieved to the depths of my being knowing that I am responsible for taking a precious girl from you," he said.
"My heart is crushed. I'm devastated that my judgment has done so much damage to so many people and lives."
Grice, under questioning from his lawyer, on Thursday said he didn't see the red arrow signal when he turned at the intersection but he accepted after watching dashcam footage that it was clearly visible on the screen.
He said he didn't check the pedestrian crossing before turning because he was focused on other vehicles on the road.
The hearing continues on Friday.
