The jury in the trial of Jaskaran Singh, the man accused of dangerous causing the death of Kiama teen Libby Ruge, has retired to consider its verdict after hearing four days of evidence.
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The jury will have to consider whether Singh was in control of the car he was driving when it veered off Flinders Street, crashing into and fatally wounding Libby Ruge and harming two of her friends, Eva Harrison, 20, and Tye West, 23.
On November 7, 2020, Singh was driving with Arpan Sharma and Nilesh Mishra from a party at his house in Wollongong to Mr Mishra's residence in Keiraville.
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The Crown has alleged that Singh and Sharma were engaged in a pattern of dangerous driving from when they turned onto Burelli Street.
This involved running red lights, driving in the oncoming lane to overtake a parking vehicle and instability as the car turns right from Burelli Street onto Keira Street, the Crown alleges.
Over the course of the drive, Sharma, sitting in the front passenger seat, pulled the handbrake three times, once on Burelli Street, one outside the Illawarra Hotel on Keira Street and finally on Flinders Street.
Barrister Ben Hart, representing Singh, argued that the dangerous driving only began on Flinders Street, and that it was Sharma who took over driving the vehicle by pulling the handbrake, leading Singh to lost control of the vehicle.
Singh is charged with three counts of dangerous driving, one occaisioning death, and failing to assist at the scene.
The Crown contends that Singh knew that he had seriously injured pedestrians and had the ability to call for help.
Mr Hart argued that Singh suffered a panic attack at the moment of the collision and expert testimony provided by neurologist Dr David Rosen indicated that Singh was conscious but unable to remember what he was doing.
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