Umar Hussein Alkhalifa Al Enizi found not guilty of murdering Troy Vandenberg following road rage altercation

A driver has been found not guilty of murdering an “aggressive and unhinged” man after a minor traffic altercation spiralled into a fatal road rage incident close to his home. At the start of his Supreme Court trial last week, Umar Hussein Alkhalifa Al Enizi pleaded not guilty to the murder of Troy Vandenberg, 25, south of Brisbane in 2021. Mr Vandenberg was fatally struck and killed when Mr Al Enizi, who was behind the wheel of a white Audi, mowed down the 25-year-old along Wembley Rd in Browns Plains. The fatal act was the culmination of a road rage saga between the two strangers that began outside the Princess Alexandra Hospital on September 17 that year after Mr Vandenberg believed Mr Al Enizi had cut him off in traffic. The jury had been told it was not in dispute that Mr Al Enizi had “swerved” his car into Mr Vandenberg – who was only clad in his underwear at the time – but the Crown contended that he did so with intent to at least cause the 25-year-old grievous bodily harm. This was disputed by Mr Al Enizi’s barrister Saul Holt KC. He submitted the act was “instinctive” and done in sheer panic when Mr Al Enizi was confronted by the “aggressive, unhinged and terrifying” Mr Vandenberg, who had thrown a hammer at his windshield moments earlier. The jury, who had been deliberating since Friday afternoon, returned a verdict of not guilty on Monday. Al Enizi was also found not guilty of the alternative count of manslaughter. During the trial, the court was told Mr Al Enizi and Mr Vandenberg began exchanging punches – none of which connected – following the initial incident outside the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Both men then left the scene. Because the pair lived in neighbouring suburbs, Mr Vandenberg believed he was being followed home by Mr Al Enizi, Crown prosecutor Samantha O’Rourke said. “For the first part of the drive, the defendant was travelling behind Mr Vandenberg, but at some point, their positions change,” she said during her opening. Mr Vandenberg voiced his suspicions to his mother while driving, the court was told. At some point, the pair ended up in an estate – by which point Mr Vandenberg was following Mr Al Enizi’s vehicle. The “penultimate” interaction occurred at the Wembley Rd intersection in Browns Plains, close to Mr Vandenberg’s home. The court was told Mr Al Enizi swerved and fatally struck Mr Vandenberg along Wembley Rd after the 25-year-old ran out of his blue Toyota Camry and threw a hammer at Mr Al Enizi’s windscreen. Ms O’Rourke said the dispute the jury needed to determine was around “why”, including Mr Al Enizi’s intention at the time.