Ahmed Alzaabi to plead guilty, but not on the booze

Deadmandrinking, I doubt that the drink driving was the only factor, and I really think that heading into a wall at 130km isn’t the result of only one lot of bad judgement. The problem is, and always will be, that hoons will be hoons whether Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist etc etc.

…and no-one knows what to do about people who get into fast cars and forget that they’re mortal. As a former NT resident, I know only too well the devestating effects of speed (and drink driving) but more has to be done than merely charging individuals with diring offences as a result of fatal car accidents.

Look, I’m not having an argument with you over f-ck all. Mo-hammered, Mohammed. Ha ha.

On the topic, I think it’s disgraceful that he isn’t being charged with drink driving. That’s what caused the damn crash in the first place. Didn’t drink drive – didn’t crash. Drink drive = illegal for this very reason.

Not to say that I’m compromising my usual stance of seeking alternatives to prison. I believe there’s a great deal drink drivers can do to recompense and learn about the impact of their crimes through community service, but I’m not for people not taking responsibility for crimes they committed when going through the courts.

I might have NFI about jokes, but you, my friend…

No please… go on…

mutley…again said :

Oh…that’s pretty clever actually.

So what did you understand it as?

Yerrrs. I might have NFI about jokes, but you, my friend…

Factor – are you serious with that comment? Please tell me you’re not. That is disgraceful and insulting.

Your comment smacks of ‘aww, but I had no choice’ and you automatically assume that other people experience the same thing. I don’t know about others, but if I go out and get hammered, I either: a) Leave the keys at home and catch a cab; or b) exercise some f***ing commonsense and in my alcohol-induced haze, figure if I can’t walk in a straight line, I certainly can’t drive. Personally, because I am a RESPONSIBLE PERSON I will not drive after 4 or more drinks, regardless of how I feel (and I really like having my licence).

If you are someone who trusts a friends judgement over your own as to your ability to drive, I think you have some serious issues. God forbid I ever come across you and your friends on the road after a night out. Grow some balls and take some responsibility for your own actions.

(Apologies JB – I realise this is coming close to abusive language but that post really riled me)

I forgot to add a new prayer that he might be saying over and over with his lgal counsel even though it has Christian overtones………..

Ahmed: “Higgins have mercy”

Counsel: “Higgins have mercy”

Ahmed: “Penfold have mercy”

Counsel: “Penfold have Mercy”

Ahmed: “Higgins have mercy”

Counsel: “Higgins have mercy”

All: “Amen”

JB wrote “very interesting.. one suspects this might become a favoured tactic of all who seek to avail themselves of the Chief Justice’s mercy.”

Heck, why just stop with the CJ? I’d be happier taking my chances with any of the out of touch nonces in the Supreme Court than striking His Honour Lalor on a bad day or Maam Doogan etc. The pissed Arab was wise to take the advice of his legal counsel and opt for the Supreme Court highway. If he didn’t I suspect that he would be packing a tooth brush and a texta.

how many of us have gone too far on the booze, been thrown into the deep end you know how it go’s “you drive” no i can’t i’m pissed, your ok mate trust me.

your already past the point of no return.

Mutley, I have wondered for quite awhile, but this proves that DMD has NFI, it’s just that sometimes the degree of NFIedness varies between extreme and bizarre.

I liked the joke.

Oh…that’s pretty clever actually.

So what did you understand it as?

Oh…that’s pretty clever actually.

Still low, but we won’t tell.

Nah you’re way off. Think “hammered” and “more hammered” and read the joke again.

Clearly my sense of humour is far too sopisticated for this audience.

Beserk Keyboard Warrior said :

What do you call a drunk Arab? Ahmed

What do you call an even drunker Arab? Mohamed

The other way might have worked, i.e. what do you call a sober arab, Mohamed, what do you call a drunk arab, Ahmed, but still it’s a bit low and in the current clime, I think you should scratch that one from your routine.

If you’re going to insist on telling racist jokes can they at least be funny?

What do you call a drunk Arab? Ahmed

What do you call an even drunker Arab? Mohamed

very interesting.. one suspects this might become a favoured tactic of all who seek to avail themselves of the Chief Justice’s mercy.

Having been by chance in the court this morning and seen the matter I can report that DPP presented no evidence on the drink driving chage and it was dismissed. As to the other charges, he did not consent to the Magistrates Court’s jurisdiction and was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court. I guess he’s hoping to go before Higgins or Penfold.

I’ll note for the record that I didn’t make any clarifications about which battlefields I have been on (I wear more than one medal on Anzac Day), but everything Thumper noted is correct.

The Jordanian reference does regard the Enclave. I pity the unit batman.

[off-topic, I know] I figured Maelinar had served in East Timor the moment the goat and the Jordanians were mentioned. I have no direct experience but I understand that it was a tough place to serve during the UN administered transition to independence with all the different forces about proving difficult to coordinate and work with.

[on-topic] So, the usual laura norder rants aside, what’s likely to be the punishment and what kind of political aspect (if any) plays out in these sorts of situations?

BJT – The point he is getting at is that reportedly some Muslim countries have the death penalty for drink driving. Killing other occupants in the car is on par with shoplifting.

The parents of the dead kid, or the other two that are majorly fked up did not get to bargain on the hand that was dealt them because of this idiot –

Oh he will get in lots of trouble when he goes home because he was pissed? my heart bleeds… man up and take whats comming to you – its not like he scratched a bumper of an excel in a car park now is it?

All of a sudden I have an entirely new impression of Mael. More of an… Understanding.

I remember following avidly the news about the East Timor conflict. What an environment to operate in – protect the East Timorese, kill milita that try to kill East Timorese, don’t kill any Indonesian Army – oops the milita IS the Indonesian Army. Try not to become mentally scarred when you find bodies shoved down wells, etc.

Back on topic – these blokes in the back of the car probably had the opportunity to tell the driver to slow down. Of course they wouldn’t have because they would have been worried about not appearing ‘like a man’ in front of their mates. Even though they were probably scared at his dangerous driving.

In my opinion it takes more of a man to tell a dangerous driver to slow down. We’ve all experienced this in our youth.

And I think you’ll find that if you actually read the article that only one person died as a result of this accident

Oh yeah because an acquired brain injury (x2) is just a walk in the park…!?

DJ, not me mate. I never left Australia. Best i ever got to do was play warries with the yanks on K89.

I believe that those excercises (with that opponent) were invariably quite good fun (provided you were not a yank).

DMD – you have failed to read the above posts addressing your question about the drink driving charge. Back to your special corner (Is that tame enough Johnboy?)

dmd – Sort of why the laws are there about possessing and dealing drugs. Would it have been fine if he was under the influence of ice or heroin?

I’m predicting a slap on the wrist.

There..it was easy to say wasn’t it? You know it’s even easier to say the “East Timor conflict”.

The main reason I have a go at Maelinar is because he either…

a) Says something lame and stupid.

b) Makes a vague claim about something he did in the past. Then says something lame and stupid.

Fair enough, I’m sure E. Timor was a pretty scary place. That still doesn’t give you a license to say moronic things and/or vague claims and expect people not to pull you up on it. It also doesn’t make your political opinions any more valid that the next guy.

And on the topic, why the hell are they dropping the drink driving charges? That’s what caused the crash in the first place. If it’s because he’s afraid of the impact at home, then bad luck. I should say bad decision making actually. Alcohol’s legal here, but there’s laws regarding what you cannot do under the influence. Driving is something you cannot do under the influence. If you kill doing that, well, you’ve basically displayed why the law is there, hence you should be charged with that offense. This is disgraceful.

Nah, I’ll do it.

Remember when shit loads of indons were killing shit loads of timorese

And we had troops out on in boonies on isolated posts on the border, conducting offensive patrols against an aggressive Indon army in the J.

Full on contact stuff. No Singo contact drills with blanks, instead contact meant that some fucker had opened up with real, live ammo.

Think hill top defensive positions in which RAInf/ SASR patrols were out 24/7 to seek and close with the enemy.

Scary stuff.

If I have to explain it then there is no point because you wouldn’t understand..

thumper, were you regs or other force?

me, I was an ADG, airforce cannon fodder.

should have been a pilot, at least you get to shoot down, not up….

but I learned how to survive in the event of separation from support. my wife won’t come camping with me and the mates, apparently survival involves 5-stars….

whatever they are.

Nah, I’ll do it.

Remember when shit loads of indons were killing shit loads of timorese

And we had troops out on in boonies on isolated posts on the border, conducting offensive patrols against an aggressive Indon army in the J.

Full on contact stuff. No Singo contact drills with blanks, instead contact meant that some fucker had opened up with real, live ammo.

Think hill top defensive positions in which RAInf/ SASR patrols were out 24/7 to seek and close with the enemy.

Scary stuff.

If I have to explain it then there is no point because you wouldn’t understand..

Not knowing the possibility of this being true, this looks like it has been written by somebody with a keen interest in bad Hollywood Vietnam movies. ‘J’ lol… *cue flashback music* remember when….

I liked the role of the Infantry cut down to just “to seek and close with the enemy”. I believe it is “To seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him…etc”.

Just my opinion for what little it’s worth… if it is true then good for you but I don’t think you are doing yourself justice in how you have described your actions.

because you said the s to the hit word lol..

Anyway, being from the UAE forces member at ADFA as a cadet would most likely mean his parents would be extremely wealthy and high ranking in the forces or monarchy/polics.. and they could probably keep most things under wraps over there.

At least he pleaded guilty to the charges, though little doubt about his guilt.

Well, come on Maelinar, tell us. Which armed conflict did you serve in?

DMD is just living up to his reputation. Good bloke…..real good bloke.

Mael, no shit putting intended, just interested. Good on ya.

peterh said :

Deadmandrinking said :

Battlefield 1942.

not COD & CODII??

COD4 these days gramps 😉

@Headbonius – if you want my CV, ask for it. My similar reply will be why do you want to know. We can discuss the veracity of my claim over a beer anytime you like – I’m sure if you want me to provide documentation I can respond to an advance request.

WMD – since your already on thin ice, welcome back to the black list. I’ll talk about you, but not to you – I figure you’ll remember the deal lardass.

Lord Mælinar, AASM.

I don’t even know what that is, dude.

Deadmandrinking said :

Battlefield 1942.

not COD & CODII??

Battlefield 1942.

Where and in what conflict?

Headbonius said :

Peterh wrote “if he is a Muslim, it will be really bad. No drinking, etc, etc. that kind of stuff will send you straight to hell.”

I dunno Pete, as someone who has lived in a Muslim community I have seen plenty of Halal Jim Beam pal.

Also if he thinks that having the DUI charged dropped will change any reference to the alcohol content in his blood in the statement of facts he is wrong.

i have several mates who are muslims. they don’t drink, eat pork and they always observe Ramadan. I have had several discussions with them about alcohol, they just won’t touch the stuff.

Yes.

Mael wrote “I have been on a battlefield with a batallion on Ghurkas and a batallion of Singapore Defence Force personnel when the lights went out.

I can most assuredly inform you I was enlightened as to how much bs the muslim faith is by 1,000 of its most devout followers between what they are seen to be doing, and what really happens.

(and before its asked, yes, they do – but neither are as bad as the Jodanians. The pet goats aren’t for fresh curry meat)”

Have you seen active service Mael?

Peterh wrote “if he is a Muslim, it will be really bad. No drinking, etc, etc. that kind of stuff will send you straight to hell.”

I dunno Pete, as someone who has lived in a Muslim community I have seen plenty of Halal Jim Beam pal.

Also if he thinks that having the DUI charged dropped will change any reference to the alcohol content in his blood in the statement of facts he is wrong.

If you look closely at the Culpable Drive charge, it can include Alcohol and drugs etc. If there was no alcohol he would’ve been charged with Negligent driving cause death.

In this case it doesn’t matter if the drink driving charge is dropped. It would’ve been a back up charge incase the other more serious charges were not proven.

Mælinar said :

@shanefos – if that comment was directed at me, I have been on a battlefield with a batallion on Ghurkas and a batallion of Singapore Defence Force personnel when the lights went out.

I can most assuredly inform you I was enlightened as to how much bs the muslim faith is by 1,000 of its most devout followers between what they are seen to be doing, and what really happens.

(and before its asked, yes, they do – but neither are as bad as the Jodanians. The pet goats aren’t for fresh curry meat)

not going to ask.

if this was a westerner, in the UAE, there would be no discussion on his charge, it would be murder. and he would be staring down the barrel of a death sentence. why are they harsher than us? because water is a limited resource in the UAE, no point feeding and watering a killer, that water and food can go to much better places…

@shanefos – if that comment was directed at me, I have been on a battlefield with a batallion on Ghurkas and a batallion of Singapore Defence Force personnel when the lights went out.

I can most assuredly inform you I was enlightened as to how much bs the muslim faith is by 1,000 of its most devout followers between what they are seen to be doing, and what really happens.

(and before its asked, yes, they do – but neither are as bad as the Jodanians. The pet goats aren’t for fresh curry meat)

I love this site. Such enlightened opinion is so uplifting.

I’ll auto-presume that he is a muslim, and since they aren’t allowed to drink the firewater, he’ll be ok just as long as he’s not convicted. At any rate, its not a quality (religious zealotry) supported by the armed forces in this country.

He’ll go home and his graceful comeback will be something derogatory towards our military for sending him home, thus assisting the next cycle of terrorist behaviour.

If they upheld the booze conviction, he’d suffer a lot of disgrace and might even top himself.

JB has nailed the issue here.

The DUI charge will hit him harder than anything else once he is back in the UAE.

if he is a Muslim, it will be really bad. No drinking, etc, etc. that kind of stuff will send you straight to hell.

Skidbladnir said :

As someone who got to witness first-hand a friend get killed by a drunk driver years ago, I this is a crock and a mockery of our system of law here in Australia.

But, if we suddenly get a spate of drug-related crime committed by tourists from UAE, we know who to blame for blabbing.

Not charging him with drink driving isn’t going to bring back the three kids who did die, nor really ease the suffering of their parents, and neither ignorance of the laws nor deliberate excessive enjoyment of exotic substances (where they may be legal) gets you off in foreign countries.

I know at least two people that have been driving while drunk and been involved in accidents that have resulted in the deaths of one or more of their passengers and in both cases they were given good behaviour bonds (and large cash payouts by TAC), so you can’t say that this is one case is “making a mockery of our system of law”.

And I think you’ll find that if you actually read the article that only one person died as a result of this accident…

Frequently without a conviction it can be waved off as more of a misunderstanding.

shanefos said :

“Presumably that will save him having to apply for asylum here.”
Excuse me? What the…???

If he thinks no-one from the UAE will know, they do read the papers, and there are a lot of immigrants who (presumably) talk to their relatives back home.

oh, his parents should be so proud….

why would he want the drink-driving charges removed?

if it is to save his career, too late. The world knows he did it.

Can’t get off that easily, and why isn’t he being charged with murder? He knowingly drove his vehicle with a skinful. Or does it mean that its ok to kill friends when you are in control of a powerful motor vehicle? throw the book at him, no bargaining, he did it, he should pay.

Presumably one would expect a more serious sentence on the three culpable driving charges (one “causing death” and the other two “causing grevious bodily harm”) than on the DUI anyway, right? Seems like a sensible decision to avoid having to put this through the full trial process.

The crash looks even more spectacular in that photo than it would have been at time of impact, Jb.

As we mentioned in another thread (posts 84 and 88), it looks like they cut away the A and C pillars on the Lexus SC400 he was driving (mentioned in the original media release).

As far as emergency services are concerned, avoiding [further] damage to a car is secondary to rescuing a person.

As someone who got to witness first-hand a friend get killed by a drunk driver years ago, I this is a crock and a mockery of our system of law here in Australia.

But, if we suddenly get a spate of drug-related crime committed by tourists from UAE, we know who to blame for blabbing.

Not charging him with drink driving isn’t going to bring back the three kids who did die, nor really ease the suffering of their parents, and neither ignorance of the laws nor deliberate excessive enjoyment of exotic substances (where they may be legal) gets you off in foreign countries.

No, not much sympathy for them either.

The comment about asylum relates to a how a conviction for drinking would go down with the folks in the UAE, even if they do turn more of a blind eye to booze than most places in the gulf.

“Presumably that will save him having to apply for asylum here.”
Excuse me? What the…???

“I’m not sure how much sympathy I have for a young Arab officer pranging his Lexus coupe while pissed and killing people.”
Sure, but good, blue-blooded Aussies that get p!ssed and crash their cars and kill people are just fine, huh? So long as the wreckage is impressive….

Feck him: if he was pissed, then he was pissed.