Teen to be sentenced as adult for fatal crash

The driver of the vehicle in which Harmony Wihongi, 16, was killed near Westport last Labour Weekend is to be sentenced as an adult.

In the Westport Youth Court yesterday, Judge John Strettell approved the transfer of the case to Westport District Court.

The date of the sentencing was set for May 5 when the judge will be shown a probation report and an updated victim impact report, The Westport News reported.

The driver was 16 at the time of the accident and is now 17. He cannot be named because of his age.

In court yesterday, he pleaded guilty to all four charges laid against him: dangerous driving causing death; driving with excess blood alcohol (453 micrograms per litre of breath, three times the legal limit for an under 20-year-old); threatening to kill; and failing to report an injury accident.

Judge Strettell said if the driver had been sentenced closer to the time of the accident, he probably could have remained in youth court.

However, because he had already turned 17, the stiffest youth court penalties of six months' residential detention and 12 months' supervision were not suitable, as they had to be completed before a youth turned 18.

Police were not aiming for a term of imprisonment and accepted that a community-based sentence was appropriate. The judge agreed.

The driver had considerable support from his family.

People who knew the driver said he had made a bad mistake which was not necessarily an indication of his approach to life, Judge Strettell said.

From reading advisory reports, he had formed the view that the accident was a one-off incident. The driver's history did not suggest he was a "troubled young man".

It was a terrible and tragic accident for the Wihongi family and for the driver. Judge Strettell did not expect either side to be objective but he had to be.

The police summary said the driver had negotiated a 75km/h bend at between 131km/h and 135km/h. He lost control, flipping the vehicle several times before landing in a ditch.

Ms Wihongi was thrown from the vehicle. The driver flagged down some passing motorists who helped him remove an electric fence from beneath Ms Wihongi and pleaded with them not to call the police.

When he heard sirens he began to walk away, turning back when Ms Wihongi called out to him.

When people at the scene tried to convince him to stay, he turned to one and said: "I am going to f..king stab you. I have a knife in my shoe."

He then ran off through the paddock.

- NZPA