A statement from the families today asked the board to reconsider its refusal of the commemorative garden. We love our children dearly and we will always grieve the loss of our beautiful kids, the families said. Our proposed commemorative garden simply honours our children, Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique and our survivors Liana, Charbel and Mabelle. We respectfully ask the board to reconsider its decision so that our children can be honoured and the community can have a place to remember the Oatlands tragedy, which had such an impact on our nation. The spot where the children tragically lost their lives. Picture: Joel Carrett
A grief-stricken father whose three children were run-down by a drunk motorist asked himself if he should man up and take revenge or think of the big picture and forgive the driver ?
Danny Abdallah chose to forgive and on Friday he stood in Parramatta District Court as the man behind the wheel was jailed for at least 21 years for a crime that shocked Australia.
Samuel William Davidson, 31, was speeding, drunk and high on drugs when he struck Sienna Abdallah, eight, Angelina, 12 and Antony, 13, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, on February 1 last year in Oatlands in Sydney s north-west.
Davidson, a professional truck driver, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Veronique Sakr, 11, and her cousins, Sienna Abdallah, eight, and her siblings Angelina, 12, and Antony, 13
Sydney fatal car crash: Driver s 12-hour drug, drinking binge before crash that killed four children nzherald.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nzherald.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Driver jailed for killing four children in Oatlands crash
A drunk driver has been jailed for hitting and killing four children as they walked to get ice cream in Sydney s north-west.
Samuel Davidson was drunk and travelling 133km/h in a 50km/h zone when he ploughed into the group of seven children as they were walking and riding bikes on the footpath in Oatlands last year.
Abdallah siblings Antony, Angelina and Sienna, along with their cousin Veronique Sakr, were killed.
Davidson pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter and was today sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in jail.
Tragedy was inevitable, Judge Bennett said. The magnitude of the tragedy, though, unimaginable.
Davidson, 30, pleaded guilty to several charges, including four counts of manslaughter.
On the day of the crash, he had spent more than 12 hours drinking, and he was three times over the legal limit when he hit the children.
He also had cocaine and other drugs in his system.
A letter from Samuel Davidson was read out in court, saying he was sorry.
(
ABC News)
The court heard that immediately after the crash Davidson, who was uninjured, said: What have I done? I ve killed people. I m going to jail.