A young economics tutor who was fatally hit by a garbage truck in Sydney’s CBD had a brilliant life ahead of him and his loss has left his family experiencing endless sadness, a court has been told.

George Lin, 21, was walking along Central Street in inner Sydney at about 1.04am on February 12, 2020 when he was hit by a reversing garbage truck driven by Tuiniua Fine.

CCTV footage released shortly after the crash showed Mr Lin walking along as he looked down at his phone, before the truck rapidly approached from behind and ran him over.

After Mr Lin was hit, Fine put on gloves, got out of the truck and dragged the tutor’s body several metres away onto a footpath. Fine then got back into his truck and drove away.

A passer-by discovered Mr Lin’s body and raised the alarm, after initially believing he was sleeping.

On Friday, Fine faced a sentencing hearing in the NSW District Court after pleading guilty to driving in a manner dangerous occasioning death, doing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice, and failing to stop and assist.

Mr Lin’s mother Eileen Xie said in a victim impact statement that her family migrated from China when George was four, and the keen reader would borrow a bag of books from the library each week. In just over a year he could speak fluent English, and when he started primary school he went directly to year two.

George went on to study at James Ruse Agricultural High School in Sydney’s north-west, achieving an ATAR of 99.85 in 2016, and he started a double degree in law and economics at the University of Sydney. He was due to graduate at the end of 2021 and begin his “brilliant life”.

Mrs Xie said George, who loved tennis, chess and growing vegetables, was kind and selfless and often shared his study notes with other students so everyone could achieve high marks.