A refugee, who fled from the Taliban in Afghanistan in fear of his life, is at risk of being sent back to his homeland after being jailed over a fatal car crash in Adelaide.
Hashmatullah Ghafari fell asleep at the wheel and killed his best friend and fellow refugee Ajmal Abdi in the crash at Dry Creek in Adelaide in 2016.
The head-on smash also caused serious injuries to the driver of another car.
Ghafari pleaded guilty to both causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious harm with District Court Judge Paul Muscat jailing him for three years on Thursday with a non-parole period of 18 months.
When the 26-year-old is released on parole, Judge Muscat said it was likely his visa would be cancelled and he would be deported unless the federal immigration minister intervened to allow him to stay in Australia.
Before fleeing Afghanistan, Ghafari had been faced with a choice of handing over all his possessions to the Taliban or being killed.
He escaped first to Indonesia where he spent some time in a refugee camp before making his way to Christmas Island.
He met Mr Abdi while in Indonesia and the pair eventually reunited in Adelaide.
Judge Muscat said the threat of deportation for Ghafari was a relevant consideration in sentencing but he declined to impose a term of less than 12 months or suspend the man's prison term which would have avoided the threat of deportation.
At the same time, he conceded there was no possibility of Ghafari ever returning safely to his homeland where the rest of his family still lived.
Ahead of the crash, both Ghafari and Mr Abdi were heading home after working most of the night in a Kebab shop.
He was driving at about 120km/h when he fell asleep, his car smashing through 18 road barriers, mounting a medium strip and veering onto the wrong side of the road before hitting an oncoming car.
Judge Muscat said Ghafari had ignored the warning signs that he was drowsy and too tired to be behind the wheel.
"There is often no coming back for a driver who has fallen asleep at the wheel," the judge said.
