Cringila crash driver Abdullah Hakami labelled ‘young, male and stupid’ by magistrate
Abdullah Hakami, 21, has told a Wollongong court he will “never drive again”, after a horrific crash in August almost landed him in jail.
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An Illawarra magistrate has labelled a 21-year-old man as “young, male and stupid” after he smashed through the front of Cringila home while his learner licence was suspended, destroying the property and leaving the occupants homeless.
Abdullah Hakami faced Wollongong Local Court for sentencing on Friday, after he ploughed 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/h on the left hand side of the road,” he told police. “I lost control of the car, I don’t know what happened.”
Court documents revealed Hakami’s learner’s licence 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.
Hakami who pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and driving while disqualified earlier this year, narrowly avoided jail time on Friday, with Magistrate Roger Clisdell putting his actions down to being “young, male and stupid”.
“Mr Hakami made a bad decision to drive on that night,” he said.
“It was only the fact that he was young, male and stupid that he got behind the wheel that night.”
Hakami’s lawyer Robert Peluso told the court his client had vowed “never to drive again” and that he was otherwise a person of good character who had paid almost $40,000 in compensation to the Lennard family.
Mr Clisdell said Hakami had shown genuine remorse, and that the compensation was an example of that.
“Unlike a majority of victims he has attempted to apologise to the victims,” he said.
“Full compensation has been paid and paid properly and that does reflect accountability and contrition.”
In handing down his sentence, Mr Clisdell said he was satisfied Hakami deserved a custodial sentence, but that it should be served in the community.
He was handed a six month jail sentence to be served by way of an intensive corrections order in the community, complete with 50 hours of community service.
Outside court, the Lennard family said although they weren’t hurt, they were still battling with the emotional scars of the crash.
“It affects us everyday,” Mrs Lennard said.
“As soon as we wake up, before we go to sleep.”