Witnesses give testimony of fatal road rage fight

The eyewitnesses to the fatal West Terrace road rage fight have told a court what they saw and heard – and their accounts could not be more different.

Francois Joseph Ghassibe will stand trial in the Supreme Court today, accused of the road rage murder of Brian Richardson, 70. Picture: 7News Adelaide

A slain man’s wife and a self-confessed killer’s taxi driver have given conflicting accounts of a violent incident on a CBD street – and their evidence could decide whether the crime is murder or excessive self-defence.

Michelle Richardson and taxi driver Prabjhot Singh Gill have each taken the witness stand in the Supreme Court trial of Francois Joseph Ghassibe.

Mrs Richardson told the court her husband, Brian Max Richardson, was upset with Mr Gill’s driving along West Terrace and, despite her urgings, stepped out of their car to speak with him.

However, she said he was neither aggressive nor looking to have a fight with Ghassibe, who was Mr Gill’s passenger at that time.

“The guy (Mr Ghassibe) ripped off his shirt and singlet and he said ‘come on, dukes up, I’m going to fight, you’ve got to fight,” she said.

“Max put his hands up and said ‘I don’t want to fight’.”

Mr Gill, however, told the court Mr Richardson had used “both hands” to “strongly push” him “and tried to punch me in my mouth” before Mr Ghassibe intervened.

He said Mr Richardson responded by spitting in Mr Ghassibe’s face.

“The angry man, he started the fight … he started the fight with him (Mr Ghassibe) first,” he said.

Mr Ghassibe, 32, of Mansfield Park, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murdering Mr Richardson, 70, in the April 1, 2022 incident.

Prosecutors allege Mr Ghassibe was a taxi passenger who intervened in a traffic dispute between its driver and Mr Richardson, on West Terrace in Adelaide.

They allege he pulled off his T-shirt, subjected Mr Richardson to an “onslaught” of punches then “lined up his head and delivered a powerful kick”, causing a fatal fall onto the road.

Mr Ghassibe, who is legally blind in his right eye, insists he acted in excessive self-defence after Mr Richardson spat into and struck him on his left eye.

Brian Richardson.

In her evidence, Mrs Richardson said she and her husband were driving his brother and sister-in-law – both of whom had dementia – to the Central Market for their weekly laksa dinner.

She said her husband’s brother wanted to get out of their car during the incident but she told him not to.

“I was going to get out, then I thought to myself ‘if I get out, I could get myself into trouble too’,” she said.

In cross-examination, Nick Vadasz, for Mr Ghassibe, said Mrs Richardson had given several statements to police prior to trial.

He asked her why none of those statements included her evidence that Mr Richardson had said “I don’t want to fight”.

“I don’t know what to say, I was in shock (at the time),” she replied.

On Wednesday, the court watched a video recording of Mr Ghassibe’s SA Police interview, in which he gave his account of the incident.

“I defended myself and the taxi driver, twice, (because) the other driver refused to calm down,” he says in the recording.

“He hit me once, I backed off, he’s gone and attacked me again... my foot, it definitely got him on the jaw... he went down.

“He attacked me, I gave him the elbow, he copped it, he was on the way down, I finished him off with the kick.”

Mr Ghassibe tells police he is “not drunk” but has “had a little bit” and is “100 per cent aware of my actions”.

“I tried to de-escalate the situation twice... he refused to de-escalate the situation,” he says.

“And that’s all I wanted, (for him) not to hit the taxi driver and definitely not hit me... I’m so sorry that this has happened, you know, but I never planned for this to happen.”

The trial, before Justice David Peek and in the absence of a jury, continues.