‘Loud pop’ heard as bus ran over Uber passenger
A SYDNEY man was telling an Uber driver to stop the car when he heard a “loud pop” and his friend, who had been in the process of getting out, was run over by a bus and killed, a court has heard.
NSW
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A SYDNEY man was telling an Uber driver to stop the car when he heard a “loud pop” and his friend, who had been in the process of getting out, was run over by a bus, a court has heard.
Nazrul Islam, 31, has pleaded not guilty to negligent driving occasioning death after Englishman Samuel Thomas, 30, was fatally hit at the intersection of Elizabeth and Bathurst streets at 3.14am on June 17 in 2017.
Islam was behind the wheel of the red Toyota Corolla that Mr Thomas, and his workmates Stephen Ronning and Greg Hensman, had ordered from a party in Strathfield to Town Hall — where they planned to call it a night.
Mr Ronning testified today at Islam’s hearing in Downing Centre Local Court before magistrate Mary Ryan.
He said the car was stopped at a red light when he heard the left rear door open, and turned from the passenger seat to see Mr Thomas “in the motion of getting out” behind him.
“I turned across to the other side to notify the driver … and at that point, I heard a loud pop as the car moved off,” Mr Ronning said.
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“Then the car stopped within a second of that and I hopped out of the car and saw Sam on the road.”
In a recorded interview played earlier today, Islam told police he accelerated when the light went green but “did not see anything” and “did not hear anything” until the other two passengers said “hey, hey, hey” loudly. “I hear them, I brake. The bus has already braked,” Islam said, noting he had moved “maybe five metres”.
“They opened the door and go out and say ‘oh my god, oh my god’ like that.
“Then I see the dead body and I got a bit shocked, and then I call the police.”
Footage from one of the bus’s cameras shows Islam’s car stopping on the right side of the bus at the intersection. The victim opens a back door before both vehicles accelerate and he falls into the path of the bus.
Defence barrister Ali Cheema noted it was an “extremely sad case” involving a death in “tragic circumstances”.
“I think what’s not in issue is that all three passengers in this car were significantly affected by alcohol,” he said.
“I would accept that the only issue is whether the driver, Mr Islam, was negligent.”