Hayden Barnden died when he fell from a ute driven by Tahu Henare. Photo / Supplied
A man who told passersby “I’ve killed my bro” after his friend died in a fall from the ute he was driving has heard kind words from the dead man’s sister.
Tahu Henare, 28, appeared in the Napier District Court on Tuesday and was sentenced to 10 months of home detention following the death of his workmate, Hayden Barnden, 38.
“I wish you love and healing,” Krystal Wickenden, Barnden’s sister, said in a victim impact statement read to the court by a detective.
“Tahu, I hope you are doing OK. I hope you are healing and hope you have forgiven yourself,” Wickenden’s statement said.
However, victim impact statements from Wickenden, and Barnden’s mother Sue James and a cousin, also told of the “huge hole” that had been left in their lives by the tragedy and the heartbreak the accident had caused.
James said she was not the person she used to be, and was sad and angry all the time.
“I am broken,” she said in her statement that was also read to the court.
She described her son as a person with a placid, gentle nature who loved music and was artistic.
Henare wiped his eyes in the dock as the victim impact statements were read.
Henare earlier pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury after two men, one of them Barnden, fell off the ute’s open tailgate while five people were riding on the outside of the vehicle on the evening of October 10, 2022.
Barnden died at the scene from traumatic brain injuries.
The other man who fell was flown to Wellington Hospital, also with serious injuries, but survived.
The group had been drinking and playing games on the beach after finishing work. Henare was breath-tested at the scene and found to be within the legal driving limit.
An earlier hearing was told that Henare and the two victims all worked together for a steel fixing company, travelling around New Zealand and staying in rented accommodation.
While working in Hawke’s Bay they were based at a house in Waimarama.
On October 10, 2022, they finished a job installing water tanks for the Hastings District Council and decided to have some drinks to celebrate.
Henare, who at that time only had a learner’s licence, drove the Ford Ranger double-cab ute owned by their employer along the beach, where they stopped to drink alcohol and play games before leaving at about 7.30pm.
One man was seated on the ute’s roller lid, the two victims were on the open tailgate, another colleague was on the driver’s side running board and Henare’s partner was on the running board on the passenger side.
As the ute drove up the accessway to the beach, Barnden got off the tailgate. He fell forward onto his arms, got up and walked towards some bushes, where he fell a second time.
Barnden was so intoxicated that he did not try to break his fall.
He was helped back onto the tailgate and Henare drove away from the beach, turned right into Harper Road and headed towards the group’s accommodation.
Closed-circuit video footage showed Henare was driving at about 30km/h.
As the ute entered a left-hand bend, the two men riding on the tailgate fell off.
The others from the ute and passers-by went to help, and police arrived a short time later, but Barnden died at the scene.
Henare told one of the members of the public repeatedly, “I’ve killed my bro”.
He also said that when he came around the corner, he “went to brake but hit the accelerator instead”.
In sentencing Henare, Judge Geoff Rea said a restorative justice process had been successful and Barnden’s family recognised that he was also a good friend of Henare’s.
“They are forgiving people,” the judge said.
Judge Rea said Henare was not before the court because he had driven at “idiotic speed” or because of the manner of his driving, but because it was “extremely dangerous” to have people in the positions they were on the outside of the vehicle.
“What we can’t get over is that someone died and somebody was badly hurt,” the judge said.
He sentenced Henare to 10 months of home detention at a Whangārei address and disqualified him from driving for two years.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.