A 20-year-old Far North man has pleaded guilty to charges laid over the hit-and-run death of a man in Kaitaia in January.
Bayley Te Kohu Karena Goodhue appeared in Kaitaia District Court on Tuesday where he pleaded guilty to charges of driving with excess alcohol causing death, driving whilst disqualified and failing to stop/ascertain injury.
Goodhue was driving the car that smashed into 54-year-old Edward Waenga as he was sitting on a bench outside the Central Dairy, adjacent to the Post Office, in Kaitaia's main street a shortly after 1am on January 12. Goodhue then ran from the scene.
Goodhue was further remanded in custody after entering those pleas before Judge Jonathan Down, but is scheduled to appear again today to apply for bail. A date for the sentencing is expected to be decided today.
He has yet to plead to an unrelated charge of burglary.
Mr Waenga had just sat down on a bench in Commerce St when he was struck from behind. The Honda Odyssey, which appeared to have clipped a concrete traffic island before it veered to the left and mounted the footpath, also snapped off a large tree at ground level before coming to a halt on the footpath outside the Post Office entrance.
The crash was reported by a member of the public, police arriving moments later, followed by the Kaitaia Fire Brigade. Firefighters attempted to revive Mr Waenga, without success.
Counsel Doug Blaikie applied for bail when his client appeared on January 26, saying the defendant would live at his mother's address at Ahipara under a 24-hour curfew. He needed to put his affairs in order, and could not do so if he was in custody.
Prosecutor Sergeant Peter Wackrow said the police maintained its opposition to bail, however. Goodhue's last conviction had been for breaching supervision, although the main concern was public safety.