Oatlands tragedy: Samuel Davidson wins court appeal, Abdallah and Sakr families devastated

The drunk and drugged western Sydney driver who appealed his 28-year sentence for killing the three Abdallah children and their cousin because it was too “crushing” will walk from jail sooner.

Drunk and drugged driver Samuel Davidson will serve six less years behind bars for his 28-year sentence for killing the three Abdallah children and their cousin, the Supreme Court of Criminal Appeal has heard.

In May, Davidson 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, when Davidson learned he would spend 28 years behind bars with a non-parole period of 21 years without being considered for release until 2041.

On Friday, that sentence was quashed and he was sentenced to 20 years behind bars but is eligible for parole on January 31, 2035.

Samuel William Davidson will be released from jail sooner after winning an appeal in the Supreme Court.

Parents Danny and Leila Abdallah slammed the reduced sentence.

“At the end of the day, it’s not going to get my kids back,’’ Mr Abdallah said.

“We can’t change the past, what it does do is set a precedent to drink and drive and take drugs, and run over kids.

“Fifteen years — I don’t think it’s a lot based on what happened — but it is what it is and we’re trying as a family to move forward with our grief so we’re not going to dwell on it.’’

Mr Abdallah believed Davidson would have got life in jail if he committed an armed robbery.

“I think if he did an armed robbery he would have got life but because he didn’t, it’s changed. “At the end of the day, we genuinely have forgiven the driver but I’ve said it before; forgiveness and justice go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other.’’

Mrs Abdallah was shocked about the sentence.

“I was crying because it brings me back to the day I lost my kids, to the day of the accident,’’ she said.

“It just opens up the pain more than anything.’’

The decision left Veronique’s mother Bridget “devastated” and “sick”.

“This is just not right,’’ she said after the decision.

“For me, what message does this send to the Australian community?

“What does it say about our judicial system? What we can do is help change the law so other families don’t go through what we go through.

“I just worry what this means for future tragedies.’’

Bridget Sakr, with her husband Craig Mackenzie, is devastated about the appeal. Picture: Nikki Short

The grieving mother is reeling from the appeal decision, which labelled the sentence excessive.

“One thing I want to say is it was all about him getting a ‘crushing’ sentence but it’s our kids who were crushed. No one’s going to bring back Veronique or her cousins.

“I felt sick. Their lives aren’t worth 3.5 years.

“I really think our case, or this tragedy, would have set a precedent. It doesn’t reflect the punishment that was deserved.

“Why can’t they use this as a precedent.’’

Craig Mackenzie and Bridget Sakr with Danny and Leila Abdallah and their children Michael and Alex and baby Selina. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Ms Sakr and her husband Craig Mackenzie will continue working with the NSW Road Trauma Support Group to lobby for reform.

“I don’t want the judicial system to let me think they put a value on our children’s lives,’’ she said.

Davidson, 32, did not appear in person or via video link during the judgement.

During the hearing in May, Davidson’s 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 at Bettington Rd 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, who was “appropriately remorseful” and had a low risk of reoffending.

He said his ADHD would make his imprisonment more “onerous”.

Veronique Sakr.

Antony Abdallah.

Angelina Abdallah.

Sienna Abdallah.

“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.

The Crown prosecutor David Kell told the court the sentence was not “manifestly excessive” for the “unique and exceptional’’ case.

The court heard earlier Davidson sped 3.5km with no respect to other drivers on that tragic night when he hit the children while speeding 133km/h while on cocaine, MDMA and alcohol he started consuming 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.

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Originally published as Oatlands tragedy: Samuel Davidson wins court appeal, Abdallah and Sakr families devastated