Oatlands: Samuel William Davidson appeals sentence for killing Abdallah, Sakr children
The drunk and drugged driver who killed four children at Oatlands has appealed his 28-year sentence because it was ‘crushing’ and his ADHD would make jail harder, a court has heard.
Parramatta
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Samuel Davidson has made a bid to appeal his sentence for killing three Abdallah siblings Antony, 13, Angelina, 12, and Sienna, 9, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, at Oatlands on February 1, 2020.
The sentence was handed down at Parramatta District Court on April 9, 2021, after harrowing victim impact statements from the Abdallah and Sakr families expressed the raw grief the horrific crash at Bettington Rd outside the golf course unleashed on them.
An appeal hearing was made in the NSW Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal on Monday, more than a year after Davidson was sentenced to 28 years in prison with a non-parole period of 21 years without being considered for release until 2041.
Barrister Stephen Odgers SC told the court the sentence was excessive for manslaughter and for Davidson’s ADHD, which he said had a part to play in the horrific collision when the children walked with their siblings and cousins to buy ice cream from a nearby IGA supermarket just before 8pm.
“This is a man who had no warning that he might do what he did,’’ he said.
The court heard how Davidson had ADHD since he was five and stopped taking medication for it when he was 26.
He said the offending was “serious but not the high end of the range’’ for his client, who was just 29 years old, of good character with no criminal record before the fatalities, had not driven while drunk before, was “appropriately remorseful” and had a low risk of reoffending.
He said his ADHD would make his imprisonment more “onerous”.
“I think that’s a crushing sentence, with all respect,’’ Mr Odgers told the court.
He labelled the manslaughter sentence unreasonable.
In October 2020, Davidson pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter, two counts of causing grievous bodily harm by misconduct and one of aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
Mr Odgers told the court the “heavy” sentence would impede Davidson’s rehabilitation and increase his risk of institutionalisation.
Throughout the hearing, Mr Odgers’ remarks prompted members of the Sakr family, including Veronique’s mother Bridget, to bristle and shake their heads.
Davidson, 32, appeared via video link from prison wearing a T-shirt and mask.
The Crown prosecutor David Kell told the court the sentence was not “manifestly excessive” for the “unique and exceptional’’ case.
The court heard how a menacing Davidson sped 3.5km with no respect to other drivers on that tragic night when he struck the children while speeding 133km/h while on a cocktail of cocaine, MDMA and alcohol he started drinking from 7am.
He sped when he left a petrol station, drove through a red light at Pennant Hills Rd at 72km/h over the speed limit, swerved to pass a car, drove on the incorrect side of the road, past a roundabout in the wrong direction and raised his middle finger at another driver with children in the car.
Mr Kell said Davidson had no regard for road users, including his victims, and his actions made tragedy inevitable”.
He said the sentence had to reflect accountability and general deterrence.
The judgement will be reserved.
Outside court, Bridget Sakr said it was excruciating and frustrating to listen to the hearing when comparisons were made to older cases.
“It opened up the wounds again because right up to the actual tragedy, the driving was just so reckless,’’ she said.
“So many people along the way were in danger and our children were the victims and to think that the comparison made to other cases — much older cases — like 21 years ago, it’s not comparable.’’
When asked about Davidson’s ADHD, she pointed out that he worked as a truck driver so “he clearly knows the implications, it was his career’’.
“I don’t think it’s acceptable to be using ADHD. As the (sentencing) judge said, a tragedy was inevitable.
“I looked at him (Davidson) and I looked at him and I know that they talk about remorse but to date we haven’t felt that from him and I just kept focusing on the fact that our children are in heaven.
“His lawyer said today that at the end of the sentence the offender will be 51. Our sentence is for the rest of our lives.’’
Ms Sakr, who missed out on representing Strathfield as the Liberal candidate in the by-election after standing on a platform of road safety, continues to lobby for reform with her husband Craig Mackenzie.
“Our case sets a precedent for serious road crime offences and therefore sends an important message to the Australian community and future offenders,’’ she said.
Mr Mackenzie said were no comparable cases to the tragedy and the NSW Road Trauma Support Group was lobbying for reform to update legislation.
“We do believe this area of the law is outdated, we can’t be relying on 25-year-old case law to work out what the community expects in terms of a sentence,’’ he said.
“We need more reform in the area of serious road crime.’’
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