An Auckland mother who admitted driving under the influence of methamphetamine and causing a crash that killed her 12-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 12 months of home detention.
On July 9 last year 33-year-old Toni Ericksen lost control of her car on Kaipara Coast Highway and collided with an oncoming vehicle. Ericksen's oldest daughter Bryer Greenwood, 12, died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the crash. Her younger daughter Gemma, then 8, and a heavily pregnant woman in the other vehicle were injured.
In August, just before she was due to stand trial, Ericksen pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of drugs causing death, two counts of injuring while under the influence of drugs, and one count of being an unlicensed driver, driving while prohibited.
Court documents revealed that Ericksen tested positive for methamphetamine after the crash.
Ericksen was sentenced in the Auckland District Court this morning. Judge Roy Wade said he was hesitant to sentence Ericksen to anything less than prison, but that jailing her would effectively destroy the life of her surviving child.
- By Anna Leask of the New Zealand Herald
