A husband accused of killing his wife on their honeymoon by negligently driving a golf buggy has argued the vehicle was having electronic issues that caused it to malfunction – as he shared his version of events in court for the first time.
Robbie Awad, 32, has pleaded guilty to charges of not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone, but is fighting a single charge of driving without attention prior to the buggy roll that resulted in the death of his wife Marina Hanna, 29, on Hamilton Island, in Queensland’s Whitsundays region, on June 20, 2022.
During the first day of a hearing at Proserpine Magistrates Court on Thursday, police prosecutor Sergeant Linden Pollard claimed Awad had performed an illegal U-turn as the couple attempted to return to the resort because the buggy’s battery was dying.
The prosecution argued Awad was travelling uphill, but made a sharp turn back in the opposite direction, which caused the buggy to flip over. They argued that he should instead have performed the U-turn by first turning into a street on the left-hand side of the intersection.
Meanwhile, Awad’s defence barrister Phillip Boulton SC argued that his client’s vehicle was suffering from electronic issues, he was not adequately informed about the vehicle’s safety procedures and operations, and that he made what he thought was the safest manoeuvre given the low-powered state of the buggy.
Taking to the witness stand, Mr Awad told the court the only instructions he received from resort staff about the golf buggy was how to drive it and that Queensland road rules apply – meaning seatbelts must be worn and drink driving is prohibited.
He said he was not advised of how to charge the vehicles, what to do if the battery runs out, and had not seen any battery charging areas at the resort site. He also said the vehicle had been driving perfectly fine in the two days prior to Ms Hanna’s death.
Recalling the day of the accident, Awad said the couple had gone for massages at the resort’s spa, then decided to head out to get something to eat in town.
‘We were leaving Qualia [resort] in the buggy, I was driving, I drove toward the exit of Qualia, I waited for the [gates] to open. We drove out of the gates at 5 or 4 km/h, then I pulled out my phone, I had a look at directions, I was looking for directions on how to travel to the marina.
‘My wife said, “Get off your phone.” I said, “What is the worst that could happen? No worries,” and I put the phone in my pocket.’
However, moments later, Awad said he started to notice the buggy was not working properly – so he made the decision to turn around and head back to the resort to either ‘get a new one’ or have a staff member give them a lift to a restaurant.
‘As we started going up the hill, the buggy started to slow down. I would estimate it was travelling less than walking speed. A very slow walk,’ he said.
‘By the time I got to the top of the hill, it was barely moving.
‘[Once I got to the intersection] I could see it was very steep and I couldn’t see around the bend. I looked straight and saw there were no cars, the buggy was moving one metre every two seconds, so I drove the buggy into the flattest part.’
Awad said, despite having his foot on the accelerator, the buggy was moving ‘very slowly’ – but then suddenly kicked into action and accelerated as he was making the turn.
‘As I was accelerating, I was moving the steering wheel, but because the buggy wasn’t moving, I ended up doing full turns, then I heard “vrrrroom” and the buggy accelerated very quickly,’ he said.
“I started to have the thought, “Oh, the buggy might tip over,” but by the time I could have finished the thought, it had already tipped over.’
Awad said he had made the decision to perform the U-turn where he did because it seemed like it was the ‘flattest’ area in that section of road and he was struggling to power the vehicle up the slope.
He said the accident took place within five to six seconds over the space of three metres and he did not have the chance to apply the brakes.
However, Sergeant Pollard argued the entire intersection was ‘on an incline’ and there were no ‘flat areas’ – and because the vehicle did not completely stop, he had the means to complete the U-turn properly.
‘As you have done the U-turn, why didn’t you take your foot off the accelerator as it started to accelerate?’ Mr Pollard asked.
Awad responded: ‘I didn’t have a chance. It went from almost stalling to rapid acceleration.’
Mr Pollard then asserted: ‘I put to you the reason it accelerated was because you had your foot on the accelerator, while you were going downhill.’
Awad replied: ‘I believe there was a fault within the buggy and that caused the rapid acceleration and it went from stalling to on its side in less than a second.’
Mr Pollard: ‘You said to police officers that the turn was very sharp. You have your foot on the accelerator, you are making a sharp turn, based on those considerations – do you think that is driving carefully?
Awad: ‘Yes.’
Mr Pollard pointed out Awad was almost double the weight of his wife, and suggested he would have felt the weight of the vehicle shifting as they drove, signalling it might not have been safe to perform the turn.
He further asserted the vehicle had not broken down to the point it was necessary to flout road rules.
Mr Pollard said: I put to you, with the vehicle still moving, that you could have done the right U-turn. What do you say to that?
Awad answered: ‘Based on the situation, where the buggy was barely moving, and I wanted to take it back, I made the decision to make a U-turn on the flattest part, which I thought was the safest part, to get us back there.’
Mr Pollard pressed: ‘I put to you, that you could of stopped the vehicle.’
Awad responded: ‘I didn’t consider that option. I thought I could take it back and get a different buggy.’
When asked what he could have done differently, Mr Awad said he did not know but he had thought about it ‘many times’ over the past two years.
Moment reality set in for grieving husband
Earlier in proceedings, police body camera footage was shown of the distressing moment reality set in for Awad shortly after his wife died of cardiac arrest after being thrown from the buggy.
Video from a police officer’s body-worn camera captured Mr Awad’s conversation with Senior Constable Ragan Dessiax inside his resort hotel room after the accident.
Awad was hyperventilating and sobbing as he recounted the moments leading up to the crash, which he blamed on the vehicle’s lack of power and responsiveness.
‘I can’t believe she is dead. How the hell did that happen?’ Mr Awad said in the vision.
Senior Constable Dessiax replied: ‘Even if it is low battery, it still shouldn’t do that.’
‘The buggy wasn’t moving, I turned it around, but as we spun…’ Awad added, prompting Senior Constable Dessiax to ask: ‘Did you take a sharp hand?’
‘I did take a sharp hand – 100 per cent I did – the thing wasn’t moving,’ Mr Awad said. ‘I accelerated, I had my foot down, because it wasn’t moving.’
Senior Constable Dessiax told the court on Thursday Awad had expressed suicidal thoughts and was taken to from the island back to the Whitsundays Police Station due to concerns for his safety.
Lawyers for Awad – who arrived at court clad in rosary beads and flanked by a half-dozen supporters and celebrity defence lawyer Bryan Wrench – have argued the buggy was experiencing an ‘electronic issue’ at the time of the fatal crash.
On Thursday, prosecution witness Aaron Todd Farrell, the deputy manager at Qualia Resort where the newlyweds were staying, told the court the accused had seemed ‘disengaged’ as he gave the couple a safety induction regarding use of the buggy.
Mr Farrell, 39, said that as part of the orientation he instructed how to operate the buggy, outlined its safety features, and advised that Queensland road laws apply to drivers, meaning drivers are prohibited from drinking and occupants should always use a seatbelt.
Mr Farrell said there were also further instructions and regulations printed on the golf buggy’s steering wheel, which he advised them to read.
‘I recall just getting a lot of yeses – I presumed he was taking it in – but he was sort of disengaged – like they were keen to get on their way to enjoy their holiday,’ Mr Farrell told the court.
Defence Barrister Phillip Boulten SC argued Awad was driving in the ‘most prudent way’ – making the decision to turn back to the couple’s resort to charge the buggy after noticing it was struggling to operate as the battery was running flat.
Mr Boulten suggested the vehicle was struggling from undetected electronic issues at the time of the crash, as shown by the vehicle unexpectedly accelerating and flipping while Awad tried to perform a U-turn – despite his client struggling to get it to pick up speed moments earlier even with his foot on the accelerator.
In cross-examination, Mr Boulten asked Mr Farrell if he had provided any information to Awad about the vehicle’s electronics, with the resort worker advising that was the responsibility of front office staff, who would have done so while taking the couple to their room.
Asked how frequently the golf buggies were serviced, Mr Farrell told the court the resort had a rotating service schedule in place, which sees the buggies serviced every three months.
‘Are you aware of the precedent golf cart owner’s manual?’ Mr Boulten asked, to which Mr Farrell replied: ‘No.’
‘Did you give him a road user’s manual?’ ‘No.’
‘Do you know what is suggested for weekly service by the owner?’ ‘No.’
Mr Boulten went on: ‘So assuming the sticker on the steering wheel suggests that the person using it should read the user’s manual, have you ever during induction told people to read the manual?’
‘No,’ Mr Farrell responded.
Mr Boulten further suggested Mr Farrell’s memory of the induction may have been patchy, noting he did not provide a statement to police until February 2023.
However, Mr Farrell maintained his memory of the induction was clear due to the noteworthy and unusual tragedy that took place days later.
Earlier in court, footage from the immediate aftermath of the crash was shown in which Awad could be heard sobbing and telling police: ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t listen to her.
‘She told me, “Put your phone down!” I said, “What is the worst that could happen? We are driving 5km/h.”
‘We turned around and it picked up steam. F***ing hell, f***ing hell.’
Mr Boulten, for the defence, told the court the phone was ‘back in his pocket by the time of the crash’.
In the bodycam video, Awad said Marina was ‘too good for me – she always did the right thing. She was the most caring…’
He asked the police: ‘What are the chances [of a crash]? There can’t be a high probability of that happening’.
A police officer responded: ‘They [the island’s hire buggies] do tip quite easily.’
Awad then described how the buggy picked up the pace and Marina fell out and hit her head after he did a U-turn.’
‘The thing wasn’t moving fast, then it picked up – that was as we were doing [the] turn.
‘She came out and hit her head. How did it not land anywhere else, but on her head? I can’t believe this is happening.’
The police officer then told Awad the golf buggy was a ‘completely different’ in the way it handles compared to a car.
‘I can’t believe she is dead,’ Awad said. ‘How the hell did that happen?’
Mr Boulton argued Awad had been driving with due care and was trying to turn around due to the battery being low.
Mr Boulton argued the vehicle slowed to a ‘crawl’ while performing the U-turn, prompting the groom to push down on the accelerator.
Mr Boulton claimed the vehicle suddenly roared back to life – sending Ms Hanna flying out of the buggy in a ‘tragic accident’.
‘He will say it was going no more than 2km-3km an hour,’ Mr Boulton said.
‘He had to put his foot on the accelerator to get it to even do that. In the course of the turn, the vehicle accelerates completely unexpectedly.
‘The time between acceleration and the tipping point is to be measured in two seconds, if that, and by that time, the situation is totally irretrievable.’
The hearing is expected to last at least two days and is continuing.