Jawad Al Hussein trial hears about fatal decision to drive through floodwater near Goulburn

The friend of a Sydney man charged with the manslaughter of two mates after he drove through rural floodwaters has told a court about the moments before the ute was swept away by the “ferocious” current.

Jawad Al Hussein leaving Goulburn District Court. Picture: Dylan Arvela

The only passenger who survived as a ute was washed into an isolated creek has told a court it was a group decision for a quartet of western Sydney mates to drive through the flooded causeway.

Toufic Alameddine gave the evidence during the trial of his friend Jawad Al Hussein who has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Ghosn Ghosn and Ibrahim ‘Bob’ Chahine. Al Hussein has also pleaded not guilty to two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

Mr Ghosn, 30, and Mr Chahine, 32, who were standing on the tray of the ute, were swept into Prestons Creek, about 70km west of Goulburn, on the evening of October 31, 2022, after Al Hussein drove into the floodwater.

The bodies of both men were not discovered for days before being pulled from the receding waters more than a kilometre from the Rugby Rd causeway.

Goulburn District Court previously heard Mr Alameddine was driving Al Hussein’s Mitsubishi Triton from Sydney to the accused’s hobby farm at Bevendale, with Mr Ghosn and Mr Chahine following in a Toyota Kluger.

The causeway at Prestons Creek is about 70km from Goulburn. Picture: Google Maps

Crown prosecutor Glen Porter told the jury they stopped sometime around 9pm near a “road subject to flooding” sign ahead of the causeway where Al Hussein got behind the wheel as Mr Alameddine was “reluctant” to drive through the water.

The court heard Al Hussein suggested Mr Ghosn and Mr Chahine leave the Kluger and stand on the tray alongside a dog.

Mr Porter submitted Al Hussein said the pair should stand on the tray as the vehicle might stall in the water and they would have difficulty exiting via a window.

In court on Wednesday, Mr Alameddine said the group had stopped for “maybe half an hour or 45 minutes” near the sign and smoked cigarettes in the rain, adding it was not an individual who made the ultimately fatal decision to drive through the water.

Ibrahim Chahine was known to his friends as Bob.

Ghosn Ghosn’s body was pulled from the water three days later.

“We made the decision, so the four of us made the decision,” Mr Alameddine said with the assistance of an interpreter.

Mr Alameddine claimed it was Mr Ghosn and Mr Chahine made the call to stand on the tray and it was not a direction from Al Hussein.

“They wanted to stay in the back (on the tray) so they can jump … we (Mr Alameddine and Al Hussein) started removing stuff from the back seat, but they preferred to sit in the back of the car,” he said.

The court previously heard Mr Alameddine and Al Hussein escaped through the windows when the ute stalled before making it to the bank with the dog.

On Tuesday, Mr Ghosn’s widow Sarah Moujalli told the court she saw Al Hussein about a week after the incident where he told her “that they tried to drive through waters, but the car switched off”.

 

The court heard Ms Moujalli told Al Hussein she forgave him and said her late husband “wasn’t a professional swimmer” and was only comfortable if he was able to stand in the water.

The trial has also heard from the officer in charge Detective Sergeant Mark Lake, long-time Bevendale resident Desmond Pearsall and multiple SES volunteers who responded to the incident.

Jodie Marshall, a volunteer stationed at Yass, told the court about the conditions she experienced when she arrived around 2am.

“I heard the rushing water and the wind was really loud,” she said.

“The water was turbulent and full of debris.”

Constable Vincent Lesslie described the weather as “horrendous”, the visibility as “very poor” and the usually tame creek as “ferocious”.

The trial before Judge Julia Baly SC continues with the jury expected to travel to Prestons Creek on Thursday.