A 27-year-old man, Sandip Adhikari, has appeared in court after being charged with negligent driving occasioning death over the killing of a three-year-old girl at a property in Auburn, western Sydney. The child was struck by a black SUV that had entered the driveway while she was playing outside on Tuesday afternoon, and she died in hospital hours later; Adhikari, who lives in a granny flat at the rear of the property but is not related to the girl, spoke briefly to reporters outside Burwood Local Court, saying he was "very sorry".

Emergency services were called to Normanby Road shortly after 2pm on Tuesday, and the girl was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition before she died. Adhikari was uninjured, underwent mandatory testing, and was later charged at Auburn Police Station; he has been released on strict bail conditions requiring daily police reporting and a ban on driving, and will next appear in court on 27 October. His lawyer described the case as "very, very sad", while the girl's family and neighbours spoke of a happy, playful child who was hanging out washing with her mother when the crash occurred; police continue to investigate the circumstances.