The man who drove through floodwaters near Boorowa with two friends on the back of his ute in 2022 that resulted in them being washed away has admitted at his sentencing hearing that he believes he is responsible for their deaths.
Jaward Al Hussein's solicitor James Lang read out a letter written by the defendant during his sentencing hearing in the District Court at Sydney's Downing Center where Hussein admitted he was responsible for the death of Ghosn Ghosn and Bob Chahine in October 2022.
Hussein plead guilty earlier this year to two counts of negligent driving after it was alleged he drove the ute through the flooding Preston Creek causeway near Boorowa with the two men in his ute tray, their bodies were discovered downstream from the location around a month later.
"I am the reason they died," the letter read out by Hussein's solicitor read.
"I acknowledge the lives of the deceased families will never be the same, I am so deeply sorry for their losses."
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The families of the two men who died had their victim impact statements read by Crown Prosecutor Glen Porter with Mr Chahine's wife describing his loss as the hardest experience of her life.
"A love like ours only existed in dreams, illusions and imagination, but you made it read," Mr Chahine's wife's impact statement read.
"Our life together was like a fairytale, and although this chapter has come to an end, our story never will."
Mr Chahine's wife said in her statement that she believed the incident was an accident made from a careless choice.
For Mr Ghosn's wife the time has been difficult according to her victim impact statement saying that her son's behaviour and learning at preschool had suffered as a result of his grief.
"My son...has been forced to grow up too soon," her statement read.
"It's a wound that never heals."
Mr Hussein's solicitor, Mr Lang, argued before the court to allow Hussein to serve his sentence in the community with the maximum penalty faced being 18 months imprisonment per charge.
In court Judge Julia Baly heard Mr Hussein and his friends had spent half an hour or so debating if they should cross the flooded roadway as well as which car they should use.
"He honestly and resonably believed it would be safe to cross," Mr Lang said in court.
Mr Lang said Hussein has not been able to return to work since the incident and had experienced anxiety and depression.
"He's plainly dealing with the consequences of that, it has changes his life entirely," he said.
"He has suffered significant personal anguish at the fact he has been responsible for the death of his two friends."
The Crown told the Court it considered the matter worthy of a custodial sentence in full.
Judge Baly set the matter down for sentence at Newcastle District Court on May 16, 2025.
Hussein had been found not guilty of manslaughter and dangerous driving causing the deaths of the two men in Goulburn District Court back in February.
He will appear in Newcastle District Court on May 16, 2025 for sentence.
