A woman involved in a car crash with Salim Mehajer has denied she once had a crush on the controversial property developer and wanted to get back at him after he rebuffed her.
Rouba Soueid rejected suggestions by Mehajer's defence lawyer in a court hearing related to the 2017 collision in Sydney that she and his ex-wife formed a clandestine plan to set him up to breach his apprehended violence order .
Mehajer has been accused of using his Audi to block Ms Soueid's path as she drove her Toyota Corolla in Kingsgrove in the early hours of November 20.
Police prosecutor Amin Assaad during his opening address at Burwood Local Court on Tuesday said it would be alleged Mehajer believed his ex-wife Aysha Learmonth, a friend of Ms Soueid's, was in the Corolla.
The crash came after he allegedly breached the AVO by driving into a laneway near Ms Learmonth's home in the same suburb, the prosecutor said.
Ms Soueid said she felt the white vehicle in the laneway was Mehajer's but agreed under cross-examination she didn't know it was the same car later in the collision.
Mehajer has pleaded not guilty to breaching an AVO, intimidation and dangerous driving.
Ms Souied said she'd driven down the laneway near Ms Learmonth's home to take her friend for some late-night McDonald's after midnight on November 20.
After seeing Ms Learmonth run back up some stairs, she reversed out of the laneway and saw a white four-wheel-drive behind her, the court heard.
She continued to McDonald's without Ms Learmonth when she crashed with Mehajer's white Audi.
"He was screaming at me saying that I hit his car," she said.
Ms Soueid denied suggestions by Mehajer's barrister that she'd long had a crush on his client, that she "invited him to be intimate" and was upset at being rebuffed.
"I wasn't upset because that didn't happen," she said.
She further denied plotting with Ms Learmonth to lure Mehajer to her Kingsgrove home on false pretences that night so he would breach his AVO.
"I have no reason to get back at Mr Mehajer ... there's no motive to be upset or get him back," she said.
Mehajer is not disputing that there was a crash or that he was the driver of the Audi.
But his lawyer Geoffrey Foster during his opening address said there was no evidence to identify him in the laneway.
The prosecution will allege Mehajer knew where his estranged wife lived, and that he was in the laneway near her home to intimidate and harass her, Senior Sergeant Assaad said during his opening.
The hearing is scheduled to continue in July.
Australian Associated Press
