A Wollongong court has been shown video footage posted to social media of the moments before a young P-plater crashed his car in the Royal National Park, killing his best friend.
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Moshen Sleiman, from Liverpool, was driving his Nissan Silvia 200SX at almost 100km/h along Lade Wakehurst Drive on April 25, 2020, when he lost control of the vehicle and hit a large tree, instantly killing his passenger and best friend, Emrah Nokic.
Wollongong District Court heard the two men had made arrangements that morning via Instagram to meet up and go for a drive in Sleiman's Nissan.
Two lots of video footage shot by Mr Nokic and automatically uploaded to his Instagram account showed the Nissan travelling at speed and crossing onto the wrong side of the road along the narrow and winding Lady Wakehurst Drive.
The last video, which goes for eight seconds, ends just moments before the crash, prosecutors said.
Sleiman was subsequently charged with dangerous driving occasioning death and failing to give assistance after an impact causing death - the latter charge relating to revelations he failed to call Triple Zero immediately after the crash, instead contacting a close friend and using his phone to shoot three short videos of his totalled car.
Emergency services were not contacted until 10 minutes after the crash, and then only by a passerby who had stopped to help.
Sleiman pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving charge in court last week, although disputed the extent of that dangerous driving and the speed he was going, claiming he'd only been going about 60-70km/h at the time.
Judge Haesler rejected that claim following a four-day, judge-alone trial finding Sleiman had been travelling at 96-98km/h at the time of the crash.
"Suffice to say what was described and shown (in the videos) involved high speed manoeuvres on both sides of a narrow, tree-lined road where moving out of your lane was completely prohibited," he said.
"That driving was for the purpose of gaining a thrill and showing off."
Meanwhile, Sleiman pleaded not guilty to the failing to assist charge, with his lawyer arguing his client had been "in shock" from both the effect of the crash and the knowledge his friend had died.
He also suggested because it was obvious to Sleiman that Mr Nokic had died on impact, no "assistance" was necessary.
However, Judge Haesler ultimately found Sleiman guilty of the offence, saying despite any shock or trauma, or his belief that Mr Nokic was dead, he had "the power or capacity to give necessary assistance - at a minimum this meant he use his phone to call emergency services".
Sleiman remains on bail and will face sentencing on April 29.
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