Danny Abdallah (second from left) will meet the driver who killed his children on the Australian 7News show Spotlight.
Danny Abdallah (second from left) will meet the driver who killed his children on the Australian 7News show Spotlight.
A father who lost three of his children after they were run down by a drunk and drug-affected driver will come face-to-face with the man who killed them in an extraordinary television interview.
Danny Abdallah’s son Antony Abdallah, 13, and daughters Angelina Abdallah, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 8, and theircousin Veronique Sakr, 11, were killed in February five years ago when an out-of-control ute mounted a footpath in Sydney’s west.
Samuel William Davidson was behind the wheel at the time of the crash, under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and was initially sentenced to 28 years’ jail in 2021 after pleading guilty to four counts of manslaughter.
He was given a non-parole period of 21 years, however that was reduced to 15 years after his lawyers won an appeal.
Abdallah and his wife, Leila Abdallah, have spoken openly about their decision to forgive Davidson, dedicating their lives to promoting the remarkable act in honour of their children.
He and Davidson have had numerous conversations in the years since the tragedy. But now, for the first time, Australians can witness such a meeting between the two men in next Sunday’s episode of the 7News show Spotlight.
Davidson, who is behind bars at one of the nation’s highest-security prisons, was visited by Danny Abdallah and Spotlight’s Michael Usher, who said that for eight months, the network “has worked closely with Corrective Services NSW, lawyers and psychologists to make this possible”.
Leila and Danny Abdallah with their six children in 2018.
“We spent a week inside one of Australia’s hardest prisons, where TV cameras are rarely allowed, to speak with a high-risk, high-security inmate serving one of the longest sentences for his crime,” Usher said.
“Danny’s journey to forgiveness has been long, complicated and deeply emotional.
“What I witnessed inside those walls is something I never expected to see, and certainly never thought we’d be able to share with the Australian public.”
In a preview of the episode, Abdallah said he had “a very special message” for Davidson.
“I wanted to meet him. I wanted to tell him about my kids,” he added.
Davidson, asked if he ever thought about Antony, Angelina, Sienna and Veronique, said he does “all the time. All the time”.
According to Spotlight, Davidson is set to give “new revelations about the reasons behind his actions and the devastating consequences that followed”.
Sharing his journey to forgiving Davidson, Abdallah told Sky News in 2023 that during his first visit at the prison, “I could see the remorse”.
“It’s just really heavy ... I looked at it this way. No one has impacted my life, outside of my parents, my wife and my kids – no one’s changed my life more than this man,” Abdallah said.
“I’m a confrontational kind of person and I wanted to see who he was and I wanted to tell him all about who my kids were.
Antony Abdallah, 13, Angelina Abdallah, 12, and Sienna Abdallah, 8, were killed by Samuel Davidson in 2020.
“For me, it gave me – not closure – but it helped me move along in my life through the journey that I’m in.”
When he and his wife welcomed their eighth child last April, Abdallah told the Daily Telegraph he received a call from Davidson congratulating the couple.
“There are no winners in this, in any tragedy like this, so all we can do is show forgiveness, move forward in the best way we can and try to find joy in the midst of pain,” Abdallah said.
“Samuel’s parents gave me a call and said congratulations on the new baby and I said thank you.
“The driver rang me from jail the next day and said congratulations and that he was thinking of us and I told him he and his family are in my prayers.”
