A man who was the front seat passenger in a car was today sentenced to two years and four months’ jail for dangerous driving causing the death of Nicola Henare and Shaun Hattrill and perverting the course of justice.
Michael Robert John Raroa (54) was stoned and drunk when he sat in the passenger’s seat next to the driver of a Holden Commodore as they travelled from Gore to Edendale on January 26 in 2020.
Miss Henare and Mr Hattrill were in the back seat.
The summary of facts read out by Crown prosecutor Mike Brownlie in the Invercargill District Court today said three cars left Raroa’s home at the same time, after the occupants had partied for a couple of hours, to go to Edendale to another party.
The court was told there was a "cat and mouse situation" as the cars travelled in a convoy, with the Commodore driver crossing the centre lane to prevent other vehicles from overtaking, weaving in the lane to stop cars from trying to overtake them on the grass verge, and driving at speeds of between 170km/h and 200km/h.
Just after passing the intersection of State Highway 1 and SH96, the Commodore was overtaken by another car in the convoy.
The driver of the Commodore tried to speed to catch up, but lost control with the rear of the car crossing the centre line, turning sideways and heading towards the grass verge.
“The Holden Commodore tipped and rolled, before smashing into a concrete power pole and coming to a rest on its roof near the railway line.”
It was estimated the car was travelling between 146km/h and 158km/h at the time of the accident.
Miss Henare, who was wearing a seatbelt, died instantly.
Mr Hattrill was thrown from the car. He was treated by a St John’s paramedic who had been travelling behind the convoy, but died at the scene.
The court was told Raroa coerced those at the scene to say he was the driver of the car at the time of the accident before he was taken to Dunedin Hospital by helicopter for treatment.
It wasn’t until a few days later it was revealed that Raroa was not the driver.
Subsequently, the driver’s blood was tested which found the presence of THC, the active ingredient of cannabis.
Victim impact statements were read out in court by the Gore mothers of the two victims and the sister of Mr Hattrill.
Tania Henare spoke in Maori before she talked in English about the impact the death of her daughter and Mr Hattrill had had on her family’s life.
‘’Shaun was the love of her life, as such he was a loved member of our whanau.’’
She said the family members of both victims lost two members of their family that day and they had all experienced stress, confusion, hurt and anger as a result.
It was important that people owned their behaviour and were always truthful.
‘’Lying is the worst thing that a person can do to me and mine,’’ she said.
“The loss of Nicola and Shaun will forever wrap through our whakapapa. It’s part of our DNA now, it can never be removed.’’
She said Raroa must now live with the choices he made on that day.
For Mr Hattrill’s mother, Vicki Kelly, the hurt was still raw.
‘’I can’t ever forgive the people responsible for causing Shaun’s death. In that time the pain and hurt is still real, like the evening this nightmare happened.’’
Ms Kelly said it was not an accident, but a preventable crash that occurred through stupidity, and she was devastated and heartbroken.
‘’I absolutely despise you and your family for the decisions you made that fateful day," she told Raroa.
Judge O’Driscoll said Raroa’s lying about who was driving was an aggravating feature and warranted an extra nine months in prison.
‘’The reason I say that, it’s clear that your lies that were told have caused considerable pain and suffering to the whanau and family of the victims.
“It resulted in delays in them knowing what the true situation was, it added to the pain and grief that occurred."
