The grieving parents of Jack Davey, 11, attended the Melbourne Magistrates court on Wednesday morning as the driver was sentenced.

Shaymaa Oun Ghazi Zuhaira, 41, was convicted of the single offence of careless driving, an offence that only warrants a maximum penalty of a $2400 fine.

She had her licence cancelled and was disqualified from driving for two years.

Zuhaira earlier pleaded guilty to the careless driving charge over the October 29, 2024 crash at Auburn South Primary School.

The Davey family gave statements to the court about how her lesser charge had compounded their grief.

Zuhaira was pulling out of a parallel park outside the school when she claims to have “lost control” of her SUV, mounting the median strip and driving into the school fence.

She drove over a picnic table where Jack was enjoying an afternoon break with four school friends.

Jack was taken to hospital with critical injuries and later died. Two 11-year-old girls, a 10-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy were seriously injured and taken to hospital, but were later discharged.

The tragedy left the community reeling, with extra teachers from nearby schools brought in to support their colleagues in the days following the incident.

The Davey family expressed their devastation in coming to terms with the sudden and overwhelming loss of their “shooting star”.

“We find comfort in reading the many messages and memories of Jack and how his life and energy was a positive influence on so many in the community at just 11 years old,” Michael Davey said shortly after the tragedy.

Zuhaira has been unable to provide an explanation for the offending, but claimed she had been traumatised by a meeting at the school with the principal before the crash.

Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano rejected that this could have impaired her driving as he handed down his sentence.

“This is a tragic case, it’s a sad case, a case where little that I so do today will overcome the effects of what happened,” the magistrate told the court.

He said the only explanation was Zuhaira had pressed down on the accelerator instead of the brake.

Caltabiano said the case highlighted the care required when handling motor vehicles but noted his sentence was “in no way comparable to Jack’s life”.

“It is not in any view considered as the court’s evaluation of that life,” he said.

(with AAP)