A teenage motorist thought to have fallen asleep at the wheel before ploughing into another vehicle and killing the driver has avoided a jail term.
Instead, Samuel Trevor Kneebone, 18, was yesterday sentenced to 200 hours' community work and to pay $200 to the dead woman's grieving husband.
He was also disqualified
from driving for 18 months.
Diane Wilton-Jones, from Hairini, died instantly on January 2 after Kneebone's ute crashed head-on into her vehicle near Maungatapu Bridge.
Kneebone was returning to Matamata for work, and Mrs Wilton-Jones, 68, and her husband, were on their way to a market at Papamoa.
Kneebone, who had left Papamoa on the morning of the crash, had only travelled a few kilometres when he approached a moderate left-hand bend, leading down to the bridge. As he rounded the bend, Kneebone's ute drifted across the solid yellow centre line into the path of the Wilton-Jones' vehicle.
Police believe Kneebone fell asleep at the wheel. He had worked a full week leading up to New Year's Eve, except for one day when he spent a full day hunting in the bush near Lake Taupo.
Following the crash, Mrs Wilton-Jones' husband Graham, 69, was hospitalised for three days with broken ribs, a cracked sternum and ankle and hand injuries. Kneebone was also seriously injured and spent time in hospital with chest and abdominal injuries.
In June, Kneebone pleaded guilty to charges of careless driving causing death and careless driving.
Mr Wilton-Jones, who was not in court yesterday, told the Bay of Plenty Times he and his sons had forgiven Kneebone and they believed a prison sentence was not the answer.
"I miss my darling so much, she was such a lovely woman and we spent every day doing things together and had so many laughs together. My life will never be the same. I think about Di all the time."
But Mr Wilton-Jones said Kneebone made a mistake - one that could have happened to anyone. "To send this young man to jail would have ruined his life completely."
The Kneebones declined to comment to the Bay of Plenty Times.
