Driver charged over death of off-duty St John officer

Sean Dickey died in a crash in Christchurch on April 19 this year. Photo: Facebook
Sean Dickey died in a crash in Christchurch on April 19 this year. Photo: Facebook
A driver has been charged over the death of a young off-duty ambulance officer in a motorbike crash in Christchurch earlier this year.

Sean Dickey (22), originally from Wanaka, died in the crash involving two motorcycles and a vehicle at the intersection of Halswell Rd and Aidanfield Drive on April 19.

Emergency services who rushed to the scene around 6.45pm that day were devastated to find one of their colleagues was involved in the crash.

Dickey's death devastated "the proudest parents you could imagine."

Now, four months later, police have laid charges.

A Christchurch woman in her 60s appeared today at Christchurch District Court charged with careless driving causing Dickey's death.

She also faces a charge of operating a vehicle on Halswell Rd on April 19 carelessly and causing injury to another man.

The woman was remanded to come back to court on August 30.

After Sean's death, father Steve Dickey told The New Zealand Herald that his son, who first joined the St John cadets when he was 6 years old, "spent his whole life doing things for others".

His position at St John was his "dream job", Steve Dickey said.

"He was just a lovely guy. Always worrying about people and trying to help."

St John Canterbury ambulance district operations manager Curt Ward earlier said the" devastating loss" had been widely felt across St John.

 - By Kurt Bayer, Multimedia Journalist

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