WARNING: This article contains the name and image of an Aboriginal person who has passed away.
The emotional parents of an Indigenous teenager killed in a police pursuit have pleaded for their pain to be acknowledged when the officer responsible is sentenced.
Dunghutti teen Jai Kalani Wright's parents told the Downing Centre District Court on Friday their lives had been torn apart since he was killed riding a stolen trail bike in 2022.
The tearful testimonies were given during the sentence hearing of Benedict Bryant, who was found guilty in November of dangerous driving occasioning death when he parked his unmarked car in front of Jai's path.
"The court needs to hear what this has done to me ... he was my son, my light and my future," Jai's mother Kylie Aloua said through tears.
"Jai was the child who held our family together."
It was standing-room only in the courtroom as family and supporters of both Jai and Bryant packed out the gallery.
Ms Aloua said she did not wish for Bryant to be sentenced to prison time, so his family did not have to suffer the same loss she was feeling.
Judge Jane Culver previously ruled Bryant should have known placing his car there without lights and sirens activated could have caused a collision that posed a serious risk to the 16-year-old.
After colliding with the car, Jai was thrown off the bike and suffered critical head injuries, dying at Prince Alfred Hospital the following day.
Jai's mother, who still works at the same hospital where he died, said Bryant's lack of remorse or apology was causing more pain.
"He deserved the chance to learn from his actions," Ms Aloua said of her son.
Jai's dad Lachlan also gave evidence of how his son's death has impacted him.
"He was the second Jai I've had to lose ... when I was 20, my cousin Jai was murdered," Mr Wright said.
Jai was meant to be forever.
Bryant's barrister Brent Haverfield is expected to argue the offence falls at the lowest range of objective seriousness and he should not be sent to prison.
However, crown prosecutor Philip Strickland SC told Judge Culver that Bryant's driving was dangerous to a high degree.
Mr Strickland said a similar incident two-and-a-half months before Jai's death, where Bryant parked his car across a driveway and caused a collision, was relevant to his moral culpability.
The verdict likely marked the first time a serving police officer has been found guilty for the death of an Indigenous person in custody or a police operation in NSW, the Aboriginal Legal Service said after the ruling.
Bryant's solicitor previously indicated he would appeal the ruling at the first opportunity.
He will be sentenced at a later date.
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