Robbie Awad Hamilton Island buggy death case begins in Proserpine Magistrates Court

Distressing footage of the moment police found a honeymooning husband distraught and his new bride dead after a buggy crash on Hamilton Island has been played in court.

Robbie Awad walking into Proserpine court for a hearing into his wife's death following a golf buggy crash on a Hamilton Island honeymoon. Picture: Andrew Pattinson

“I can’t believe she’s dead - we just got married,” distraught husband Robbie Awad shrieks in police body cam footage played at his trial in Proserpine Magistrates Court on Thursday.

In the footage, a visibly distressed Mr Awad tells Constable Regan Dessaix his version of the moments leading to the buggy crash which claimed the life of his 29-year-old wife Marina Hanna on their honeymoon in 2022.

“As I was driving the buggy it wasn’t going very fast, there wasn’t much battery”, Mr Awad, who has pleaded not guilty to driving without due care and attention causing death, says in the footage. “It slowed cause the battery’s f***ed.

“I told her, ‘we’ll do a U-turn, we’ll charge the buggy and we’ll get someone to drop us off’.

Robbie Awad and Marina Hanna on their wedding night. Picture: 9NEWS

“As we’re turning, it started to go faster and we fell over.

“It went wham. That was it, it was three seconds.

“I can’t believe this has happened...I can’t believe she’s dead... we just got married”.

The Sydney couple had been celebrating their honeymoon on the popular Whitsunday Island on June 20.

They were staying at the high-end Qualia resort and travelled on Whitsunday Boulevard on their buggy about 4:30pm.

The court heard Awad had been attempting a U-turn at the corner of Coral Sea Ave and Whitsunday Boulevard and the battery was running low ahead of the crash.

Robbie Morgan, Marina Hanna - A 29-year-old bride has died on her honeymoon after falling from a golf buggy on Hamilton Island.

Defence barrister Phillip Boulten told the court he planned to establish Mr Awad had driven with all the due care he could have shown while operating a faulty vehicle.

Owner of Mackay Electrical Vehicles Ronald John Martin was able to download settings from the golf buggy and identified seven diagnostic faults from the vehicle, the court heard. Among the faults allegedly identified were battery issues, a pedal detect issue, as well as low charge.

However, Mr Martin said he could not provide specific dates from the download.

Earlier, Aaron Todd Farrell, one of the managers of Qualia resort who had given Mr Awad and wife Marina Hanna the rundown on how to use the buggy, gave evidence.

Mr Farrell described Awad’s response to the safety demonstration as “a lot of yes” but claimed the newlywed was “disengaged” as “(the couple) were looking to go on their way and enjoy their holiday”.

Mr Farrell said he had not read out safety instructions to the couple but rather told them they could find the instructions on the steering wheel.

He also accepted he had not instructed them how to charge the buggy, or warn them of the dangers of driving in steep terrain.

In a cross examination, Mr Awad said he was using his phone for directions while driving the cart towards the exit of the hotel when Ms Hanna told him to put it away.

“I said what is the worst that can happen, no worries and I put it back in my pocket,” he told the court.

After leaving the hotel, the buggy struggled to accelerate up the hill, slowing to a walking pace, he said.

His plan was to make a u-turn further downhill and swap the buggy for a new one. But during the turn the buggy accelerated.

“Then I heard what felt like the wheels sliding underneath the rocks,” Mr Awad said.

“I had the thought this buggy might tip over, before I had finished having the thought the buggy had already fallen over.”

Despite Mr Awad’s best efforts to save her, Ms Hanna was killed.

Forensic crash unit officer Michael Hollett testified that if Mr Awad had chosen a different, less steep place to complete the u-turn, the crash could have been avoided.

“The proper way to perform that u-turn would have been on the other direct uphill into the slope and come back down,” he said.

Sergeant Pollard suggested to the court that the fast acceleration had been caused by the terrain being so steep, as he was now driving downhill.

He asked Mr Awad if he had considered any other ways of doing the U-turn, or thought about the possibility of heading back to the resort by foot.

“I just didn’t think of that option.” he said.

Mr Awad has pleaded guilty to not wearing a seatbelt, not ensuring passengers wear seatbelts and using his mobile phone behind the wheel.

The four-day trial is set solely to determine whether the court can believe beyond reasonable doubt his manner of driving had been reckless.

Originally published as Robbie Awad Hamilton Island buggy death case begins in Proserpine Magistrates Court