The heartbroken father of one of four children killed by a drunken speeding driver says he had to carry his "princess" in a coffin down the church aisle instead of one day accompanying her as a bride.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Bob Sakr said the last words his 11-year-old daughter Veronique said to him was "happy birthday daddy" three days before she and three cousins died as they walked on the footpath to buy ice-creams at a local supermarket
He was reading his victim impact statement in the NSW District Court on Friday at the sentence hearing of Samuel William Davidson.
The 30-year-old killed four children and injured three others when his ute mounted the kerb at Oatlands, in Sydney's northwest, on February 1 last year.
He struck all seven from behind on the footpath and dragged some along a nearby fence.
Davidson has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique and Sienna Abdallah, 8, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13.
He has also pleaded guilty to other charges including aggravated dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm while under the influence of drugs.
During that fateful Saturday, he'd been sitting poolside with his housemates drinking Vodka Cruisers and beers, having his first drink about 7am as well as cocaine later in the day.
Mr Sakr, who is divorced from Veronique's mother, said their son was devastated by his only sibling's death.
Every day he remembered his son's words at the crash scene: "How am I going to do it? How am I going to live the rest of my life without her."
While his faith helped to forgive Davidson, he asked the court to hand down "the most extreme sentence" to send a message to other drivers so such a tragedy didn't happen again.
Bridget Sakr said the horror of her daughter's death "will be etched in my mind, my body and my soul for as long as I live".
"Just like that, in an instant, she was gone, the future stolen from under our noses," she said.
She wondered if Davidson was tormented by the suffering he had inflicted.
She prayed he would be healed by the love and mercy of God and would come out of prison a changed man.
Davidson and his passenger were seen by witnesses to be shirtless and laughing while driving erratically and swerving across each side of the road.
Both made rude hand gestures out the window at different cars along their journey, according to the agreed facts.
Another witness heard Davidson's "engine revving hard" as a motorbike swerved out of the way of his car which drove through a roundabout on the wrong side.
Shortly after, Davidson attempted to make a sharp right-hand turn on a downward slope but lost control of his speeding vehicle and mounted the concrete kerb and gutter, striking the children.
A report later found he was travelling up to 133km/h in a 50km/h zone and was moving about 111km/h at the time of impact.
After the two uninjured men got out of the vehicle, Davidson appeared distressed and was heard saying: "What have I done? ... I have killed people ... I am going to jail."
The hearing continues.
Australian Associated Press
