The father of three children tragically killed when a drunk driver ploughed into them in the Sydney suburb of Oatlands has met their killer behind bars.
Danny Abdallah embraced Samuel William Davidson – a man who was drunk, high on drugs and speeding when he hit a group of seven children out getting ice cream – as they met inside Cessnock Correctional Centre for a Seven News Spotlight interview.
Abdallah siblings Sienna, 8, Angelina, 12 and Antony, 13, along with their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were killed instantly in the crash, while another in the group of seven, Charbel Kassas, 11, was badly injured and spent two months in a coma.
Danny and his wife Leila have previously explained how they forgave Davidson so as not to ‘hold onto hate’ for the the sake of their remaining children, but just how deep that goes was revealed in the extraordinary meeting.
Davidson, 34, had been sentenced to 20 years in prison with a non-parole period of 15 years but Danny revealed that, if it were up to him, he would see him released tomorrow.
‘Whether it’s 100 years or one day, it’s not going to make me feel any different,’ Danny said.
He explained his focus was on his children and that whether Davidson was in jail or not made no difference, but he understood that ‘justice was more for the community, to see that this type of behaviour is punished’.
The two also prayed together during the visit. Davidson previously revealed how he converted to become a Maronite Catholic, the same religion Danny and his family follow, largely due to how they had forgiven him.
Danny Abdallah (left) met the man who crashed his ute into three of his young children while they walked to get ice cream and killed them, Samuel Davidson (right)
Davidson is pictured after the horror crash during which he was drunk, on drugs and speeding
Davidson also apologised to Danny, his family, emergency service workers who attended the scene, neighbours who witnessed the crash and the wider community, before he shared a warning to not get behind the wheel while intoxicated.
In the interview, Davidson also opened up about his hard-drinking lifestyle before the incident, pledging those days were behind him.
‘It’s a shame that I had to enjoy life under the influence of alcohol or anything like that to enjoy it, because I can tell you my thoughts about that are completely different now,’ he told the program.
Davidson, who spends up to 17 hours a day inside his cell, said it was important to him to keep a clean cell, the way he would at home.
‘I do try and keep it that way because I just think it looks better and yeah, it just makes it more homely. Yeah, I was like that on the outside too,’ he told the program.
With a decade still to serve, Davidson said he longed to be able to open and close a door for himself when he is finally freed from custody.
Davidson (pictured) said he spent many of his weekends getting drunk before the crash
Danny Abdallah prayed with Davidson when he visited him inside Cessnock Correctional Centre
‘I’ve had a dream where I was waiting for a door to open at home. At home you just open a door, you know what I mean?’ he said.
‘Here you’ve got to wait for a door … freely opening it – I can’t wait,’ he said.
Mr Abdallah has attributed his decision to forgive Davidson to his Christian faith but added it was necessary for the sake of his marriage and surviving children.
‘At the end of the day, I’ve still got three other kids. I need to be a father too and I need to be a husband to my wife, and it’s already hard enough,’ he told KIIS FM’s The Kyle & Jackie O on Friday.
