Roger Sydney Samson was jailed for two years and four months when he appeared in the Te Kūiti District Court. Photo / Belinda Feek
A man whose “excessively corroded” boat trailer killed a driver when it detached from his vehicle and struck a car was caught last month towing another boat while banned from driving.
Roger Sydney Samson was also caught drink-driving three months after the fatal crash south of Te Kūiti last year.
The trailer involved in the crash was heavily corroded, with rust having eaten through entire sections of the frame, and had seized brakes.
It hadn’t had a warrant of fitness for nine years, but Samson, 19, re-registered it as new last year before attempting to drive it about 370km from Tauranga to New Plymouth when the crash occurred on July 11.
Today, he appeared via audio-visual link from Whanganui Prison for sentencing before Judge Philip Crayton on a charge of dangerous driving causing the death of 23-year-old Nateisha-Kurstyn Hana-Wetere.
Her young son was in the car with her at the time of the crash.
Hana-Wetere‘s whānau packed the public gallery in a Te Kūiti District Court courtroom to watch Samson be sentenced.
Many read their victim impact statements, describing how his actions had torn their lives apart.
Judge Crayton held a moment’s silence at the start of the hearing to remember Hana-Wetere before inviting her whānau to read their statements.
Hana-Wetere’s mother, Hailey, said her daughter was the second eldest of nine siblings.
“She was a stunning young lady at the time she passed,” she said.
“Her energy was magnetic, and her heart was so big.
“She would help anyone she came across if she could ... and was full of so much potential.
“Losing her was the most traumatic experience we have had to endure in our lives and something I would never wish upon anyone.”
She said knowing her moko witnessed her daughter’s death brought grief “like a heart-shattering avalanche”.
“And that is something that he will have to live with for the rest of his life.”
The court heard Samson had contacted a person selling a Haines Hunter fibreglass boat and metal trailer in Tauranga on June 23, via Facebook Marketplace.
The boat was listed as a “project boat”, as there was a “considerable amount” of work required to get the boat and trailer up to standard.
The trailer’s warrant expired in July 2016 and it had been “extensively affected by corrosion”, to the point there were visible holes in its frame and large areas of discolouration.
The seller responded to Samson saying, “brakes are not to [sic] bad, just need a drag around the block to free them up, tyres are good, has a bit of rust on frame rail but doesn’t look like it will brake [sic] easily, lights work”.
In photos sent to Samson, there were two areas on the trailer that had completely corroded.
On the phone, Samson told the seller he was a “fabricator and machinist”, which put him at ease about assessing the trailer’s condition.
He got its details and on July 10 paid for a new registration from Hāwera VTNZ, registering it as a “grey 2025 homebuilt New Zealand new TB trailer”.
The following day, he, his partner and an associate travelled from New Plymouth to Tauranga, arriving about 9am.
The seller pointed out areas of corrosion and Samson replied, “Oh yip, that doesn’t look too bad”.
He bought the trailer and boat for $3000, hitched it to his Volkswagen and set off on the journey back to New Plymouth.
He cut through an alternate route from Piarere to Kihikihi, to avoid State Highway 1 and possibly police.
As he travelled south of Te Kūiti on SH3, the trailer broke on the drawbar, about 30cm back from the tow ball.
At the same time, Hana-Wetere and her 3-year-old son were travelling north in the passing lane.
The trailer and boat crossed the centre line, crashing into her car.
Because of the impact, the boat moved off the trailer and careered through the windscreen, fatally striking Hana-Wetere.
The police serious crash unit found numerous issues with the trailer.
The front right section of its frame was “compromised by excessive corrosion to the point where it had rusted through the entire thickness of the structure, leaving visible holes”.
There was also “excessive corrosion” at the pivot point, where the front drawbar of the trailer is held to the cross beam by a bolt; in the drawbar; and on the brake discs, while both brake callipers were contaminated with grease, with the right one seized and “non-operational”.
The combined weight of the trailer and boat was 2380kg.
As the trailer had faulty and non-operational brakes, the vehicle could only safely tow up to 750kg.
Samson knew the trailer was unwarranted and, despite having inspected it, he tried to tow it 370km to his home, “ignoring the clearly visible and significant corrosion and falsely registering it as a new trailer”, the police summary of facts stated.
“The defendant’s decision to tow the unroadworthy trailer created a situation where the public was placed in danger.”
Hana-Wetere suffered fractures to her skull, jaw, ribs, humerus, femur and elbow, along with lacerations to her liver, spleen and kidneys.
Samson’s counsel, Rob Quin, said his client had saved $5000 for Hana-Wetere’s whānau as emotional harm reparation.
“It’s not an insignificant amount of reparation,” Quin said.
“He’s only 19, and he’s worked fairly hard to put that aside.”
He urged the judge to issue the total 40% in maximum available discounts to allow for Samson’s plea, his youth, his upbringing and his remorse.
“He does not have a lot of support, and unfortunately, there’s no one present for him here today.”
Crown prosecutor Amy Alcock said it was hard to believe Samson was remorseful, given he had not only reoffended by drink-driving and speeding in October, but then breached his bail conditions by driving last month in Taupiri.
There, he was caught on CCTV at a BP station towing a boat and trailer.
“It flies in the face of having insight into his offending and neutralises his expressions of remorse,” she said.
Judge Crayton told Samson the most obvious aggravating feature was his driving a “poorly maintained, or dangerously loaded, vehicle”.
“It is acknowledged that it was in an obvious state of disrepair.
“But it goes further than that.
“You would have been fully aware of the state of that vehicle from your inspection of it, from your driving with it on your vehicle.
“It would have been clearly evident that that trailer in its condition was not able to be safely towed.”
He told Samson his actions were premeditated, which wasn’t a factor usually associated with such a charge.
“You deliberately obtained a fabricated registration.
“There can only be one explanation for that.”
He also took many back roads to avoid police, on a trip that was not short, and driving with passengers on his restricted licence.
“You have plainly demonstrated that you have little concern for other road users.”
He also had a poor driving history of speeding, driving unlicensed vehicles and driving while suspended.
Judge Crayton said Samson’s employer had also seen him “driving regularly” since the crash.
The victim impact of his offending was stark.
“A son will grow up without a mother, and sadly, given his age at her passing, that son will never know his mother.
“He will have no memories of his mother.”
He also noted a comment by one of the victims calling out Samson’s “she’ll be right” attitude.
But Judge Crayton disagreed with that.
“Your attitude was ‘I don’t care’.”
The judge jailed Samson for two years and four months, and disqualified him from driving for four years.
He was also ordered to pay $5000 emotional harm reparation.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.