Driver admits to causing deaths of friends swept off ute tray in flood | Breaking News & Latest Australia Updates

Driver admits to causing deaths of friends swept off ute tray in flood — By Lani Oataway ABC Central West Topic:Floods Bob Chahine and Ghosn Ghosn were washed from a ute tray while crossing a flooded NSW creek.(Supplied) Ja...

By Lani Oataway

ABC Central West

Topic:Floods

Bob Chahine and Ghosn Ghosn were washed from a ute tray while crossing a flooded NSW creek.(Supplied)

Jawad Al Hussein has told a sentencing hearing he accepts responsibility for the deaths of two of his friends, after he drove into floodwaters with them on the back of his ute.

He has pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent driving causing deaths of Ghosn Ghosn and Bob Chahine in 2022.

Judge Julia Baly will deliver her sentence next month.

A man who drove two friends through floodwater on the back of a ute in regional New South Wales admits he is responsible for their deaths, a court has heard.

Jawad Al Hussein pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of negligent driving that caused the deaths of Ghosn Ghosn and Bob Chahine in October 2022.

Al Hussein drove a ute through the flooding Preston Creek causeway near Goulburn with the two men in his ute tray.

Their bodies were discovered downstream a month later.

At Al Hussein's sentencing hearing in Sydney's Downing Centre, defence barrister James Lang read out a letter written by his client.

"I am the reason they died," the letter read.

"I acknowledge the lives of the deceased families will never be the same, I am so deeply sorry for their losses."

Crown prosecutor Glen Porter read victim impact statements from the men's families to the court.

The sentencing hearing was heard in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court.(ABC South East NSW: Adriane Reardon)

Mr Chahine's wife described the loss of her husband as the hardest experience of her life.

"A love like ours only existed in dreams, illusions and imagination, but you made it real," her impact statement read.

The court heard her daughter asked her if she could visit her father while they were on a flight because she thought they were closer to him in the sky.

In the statement, Ms Chahine's wife said she did not view the incident as intentional but as an "accident" made from a "careless choice".

Meanwhile, Mr Ghosn's wife wrote that her son's behaviour and preschool performance had suffered due to his grief.

"My son … has been forced to grow up too soon," the statement read.

The maximum penalty for the crime is 18 months imprisonment per offence.

Mr Lang argued Judge Julia Baly should allow his client to serve his sentence in the community.

The court heard Al Hussein and his friends had spent 30 to 40 minutes considering whether to cross the flooded causeway, including choosing which car to take and using a tape measure to determine the height of the water.

"He honestly and reasonably believed it would be safe to cross," he said.

Impact statements of the families of Ghosn Ghosn and Bob Chahine were read to the court.(ABC News: ABC News: Adriane Reardon)

Mr Lang also told the court his client had been unable to return to work since the incident — impacting his wife and five children — and had experienced anxiety and depression from the event.

"He has suffered significant personal anguish at the fact he has been responsible for the death of his two friends."

The court heard the crown considered the matter worthy of a full custodial sentence.

Judge Baly reserved her decision and will sentence Al Hussein next month.

Al Hussein was found not guilty of manslaughter and dangerous driving causing the deaths of the two men in the Goulburn District Court in February.

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