Killer driver to be extradited after days on the run

A killer driver who fled interstate before he was to be sentenced for killing an off-duty paramedic has been caught after a week on the run. Mingen He, who was on bail, was expected to be sentenced in Melbourne on Thursday after pleading guilty in September to one count of dangerous driving causing death over a May 2022 crash. He killed 53-year-old Pauline Smith, a paramedic and former police officer who was on her way home from night shift, after he veered into the wrong lane on the Western Highway at Great Western, in regional Victoria. He faced a pre-sentence hearing on November 1, when his sentence date was set down for last Thursday. Ms Smith's devastated family and friends, who attended the County Court for the sentence, were instead told He was on the run. Fugitive Taskforce investigators wasted no time in tracking the man down in Queensland. Within hours, Tactical Crime Squad officers and Upper Mount Gravatt Criminal Investigation Branch detectives visited a house in Macgregor and arrested the man at the scene. He faced court in Brisbane where an extradition order was granted. The 25-year-old is expected to face the County Court of Victoria on Wednesday.