Abdullah Hakami pleads guilty to dangerous driving after Cringila home destroyed in crash
An international student from Saudi Arabia has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving while disqualified, after he crashed into the front of a Cringila home, leaving a young family homeless.
Illawarra Star
Don't miss out on the headlines from Illawarra Star. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Illawarra woman charged over fatal buggy crash
- Teen driver reached speeds of 195km/h in ‘notorious’ 90 zone
A University of Wollongong engineering student could be facing nine months jail time, after he smashed through the front of Cringila home while his licence was suspended, narrowly missing a sleeping family of three and leaving them homeless.
Abdullah Hakami, 21, faced Port Kembla Local Court for the first time on Wednesday, where it was revealed he has never held a full licence and has been subject to several disqualifications and speeding fines.
Hakami pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving while disqualified in court on Wednesday, a month after he crashed his car through the front of Ainsley and Guy Lennard’s Lake Ave home, leaving their lives and house in ruins.
It was just after 3.30am on Saturday, August 24 when Hakami lost control of his Holden Cruze, crossed to the opposite side of the road and smashed through the front bedroom of the Lennard’s home.
The car narrowly missed Mr and Mrs Lennard, who frantically scrambled to find their three-year-old-daughter Lila, who had been buried under the rubble.
Fortunately, she was unharmed but was taken to hospital as a precaution. When police arrived at the scene, police facts tendered to the court revealed Hakami made full admissions about driving the vehicle.
“I was going about 70km per hour on the left hand side of the road,” he told police. “I lost control of the car, I don’t know what happened.”
During his appearance on Wednesday, Magistrate Robert Walker asked Hakami’s defence lawyer John Peluso what had caused the accident.
Mr Peluso summed it up with one word- “immaturity”.
“He’s 21 years of age,” Mr Peluso said. “He doesn’t have any excuses and he expresses remorse for the family home he has destroyed.”
Magistrate Walker said Hakami had “no respect for the law” after it was revealed he had been caught driving while disqualified twice in the space of two months.
“This is completely unacceptable,” he said. “Why shouldn’t I send him to jail?”
Court documents revealed Hakami’s learner’s license was suspended for three months on May 19, after he was caught driving without a licensed supervisor. Weeks later on June 4, he was again caught driving, this time on the M1 Princes Motorway at Gwynneville. His licence was again suspended for three months.
But, that didn’t stop the 21-year-old from getting back behind the wheel on August 24, which this time led to the destruction of a family home.
Mr Peluso told the court compensation could be paid to the Lennard family for the damage caused to their home, telling Magistrate Walker Hakami’s parents in Saudi Arabia were in a position to hand over the money.
“They know about the situation their son is in,” he said. “They are people who are in a position to meet any compensation.”
Magistrate Walker ordered Hakami speak to Community Corrections before sentencing, and asked both the defence and prosecution to settle on a compensation figure before his next appearance on November 20.
Outside court, Mrs Lennard said no amount of compensation could bring her family any justice.
“No amount of money could fix our house or our lives or put us in the position we were in before this happened,” she said.
“We’ve built our lives together for a long time”
As he left the court, Hakami apologised for the crash, saying he was “deeply sorry” to the Lennard family.
“It was a bad decision I made and I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
But Mrs Lennard said the apology did little for her family, saying three-year-old Lila was “not doing too well”.
“She asks every night if a car is going to crash into our house before she goes to bed, we have to explain that she’s safe and that we’ve got a new house and she can go to sleep and be okay, Mrs Lennard said.
“She sleeps with us every night.”
Ainsley’s mum Tracey Ansons was aslo at Port Kembla for the appearance, and said it was hard seeing Hakami in the flesh on Wednesday.
“It’s tough,” she said. “He could have killed my kids.”
Hakami will return to court in November for sentencing.