'He’s hurt us all really badly': Anger over fatal crash driver's sentence

The family of two mothers killed in a crash near Waihola say they are glad the remorseless teenage driver was named yesterday but remain disappointed with his sentence.

After a one-week embargo lapsed yesterday morning, the 17-year-old can now be named as Hayden Manoah, of Dunedin.

Last week, Manoah was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court to six months’ community detention and two years’ intensive supervision.

He was disqualified from driving for four years and ordered to pay $2000 to the victims’ families.

Manoah had earlier pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of Charlene Hong Hue Phuong and Fay Lesley Leota, and two counts of dangerous driving causing injury following a crash on State Highway 1 on October 23 last year.

Ms Phuong’s aunt, Jo Hastie, told the Otago Daily Times the whole family had been left disappointed and angry by Manoah’s sentence.

Going into last week’s hearing they had known he was ineligible for imprisonment or home detention because of his age, yet they were still concerned he would not complete the sentence.

The crash happened just three days after Manoah was discharged from earlier Youth Court proceedings.

He had previously been warned that his manner of driving could lead to a fatal crash and he was on a learner’s licence when it happened.

Ms Hastie said it had been extremely emotional to face him in court and hear all the victim impact statements, but Manoah had not shown any remorse and she was unsure if he really grasped the gravity of his actions.

The family was pleased his name suppression had been lifted.

"I think people need to know who he is. As the prosecutor said, ‘would you want to get in a car with him?’," Ms Hastie said.

While she doubted any of the family would ever be able to forgive Manoah, her message to him was that his sentence was his chance to redeem himself and live a proper life.

"He’s hurt us all really badly. It’s not something we’ll ever get over," Ms Hastie said.

For the family, road deaths were no longer just statistics and her blood ran cold when she saw people speeding or heard boy racers.

She believed the law was too weak for young offenders and believed they should be treated as adults if their crimes were serious enough.

Someone like Manoah who caused carnage by totally ignoring the law needed to go to prison; he was old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, she said.

"I’d love to see a change in the law," Ms Hastie said.

Charlene’s mother, Louise Phuong, agreed.

"There’s not much difference between a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old — it’s just a number," she said.

Manoah’s name suppression remained in place for one week after sentencing, on the grounds of extreme hardship to his family.

oscar.francis@odt.co.nz