The ashes of Laureen Helen Reilly were in the High Court at Christchurch when the street racer who crashed and killed her was jailed for two years eight months.
The ashes had been taken there by her son Aaron Keown, who placed them in front of him as he stood to read his victim impact statement to the court and to Justice Christine French at the sentencing of Arcanie Vincent Optetaia Matagi.
Mr Keown said later he believed his mother would have been disappointed at the sentence, and the family was "pretty gutted".
"I think he could be out on parole in about 10 months. This guy's taken a life with his deliberate, avoidable actions." He also made it clear the sentencing will not be the end of the case, which has already led to him standing for Parliament as an ACT candidate to campaign for harsher sentences for criminals.
He planned to make a complaint to the Independent Police Conduct Authority about the police handling of the case and would continue to campaign for law changes.
He believed that concurrent sentencing had to end, and the sentence had not been heavy enough to be a deterrent.
"Lock up your kids. Someone's going to be killed this weekend," he said.
Four victim impact statements were read to the court, describing Mrs Reilly as a talented and caring woman, a mother, and a grandmother. Some of her grandchildren were too young at the time of her death to have memories of her.
Mr Keown said he wished the two young men who had the impromptu high speed race in northern Christchurch had been the ones killed.
"I wish I was able to stand with my mother in front of their grieving families and say they got what they deserved."
Matagi, a 26-year-old printer, lost control of the car soon after the end of the race with 19-year-old Brad Jordan Nicholls, and his car crossed the centre-line and smashed into a vehicle coming the other way, killing Mrs Reilly instantly and causing serious injuries to the driver, Brendan Cronin.
Mr Cronin spent three-and-a-half weeks in hospital, has had five operations, 63 physiotherapy sessions, and has a permanent disability. He has lost more than $20,000 in lost wages and extra costs.
Nicholls admitted dangerous driving and was given 200 hours of community work and disqualified from driving for 15 months.
Justice French today jailed Matagi for two years eight months, and disqualified him for five years on charges of manslaughter and dangerous driving causing injury. The accident happened in May 2008, but it had been delayed for a year by legal problems which required a ruling from an out-of-town judge.
Crown prosecutor Barnaby Hawes described the racing as sustained and deliberate bad driving. The race had ended but it was certainly the reason why Matagi was driving at such a high speed when he lost control.
The police estimated the speed at between 115kmh and 157kmh at the time of the crash.
Defence counsel Allister Davis said Matagi was ashamed and remorseful for the devastation he had caused in this moment of madness. The race had gone on for 45sec and covered no more than 1.6km.
Matagi had not driven since the crash and it was unlikely he would ever drive again.
"He blames nobody but himself. He is disgusted and horrified about what he has done to the innocent victims. He is sympathetic to the victims notwithstanding what the Keowns may think."
He had no previous convictions, and a good work record. He had a young child and a supportive partner who was standing by him. No drugs or alcohol had been involved in the crash.
Justice French noted that although he had no convictions, Matagi had been issued with six infringement notices for speeding, five of them on the open road. Because of this she was not prepared to give him credit for a clean record.
"It is evidence that you have previously engaged in risky driving and were not deterred by being stopped by the police," she said.
She noted there had been a hardening of attitudes in cases where reckless driving led to deaths.
"It remains a significant social problem in this country. The facts of this case show that the hideous death toll on the road and hard line by sentencing courts have too often failed to register with young drivers," she said.
