A disqualified driver who killed a volunteer firefighter has been sentenced to 200 hours' community work.
As well as being disqualified, Brian Benson was driving a car without a warrant of fitness or registration when it struck Robin Thorin near the Matauri Bay turnoff on State Highway 10 last April.
Judge Gregory Hikaka imposed a community-based sentence after Mr Thorin's parents and sister, who were in court, asked the judge not to send him to jail.
Benson pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while disqualified but denied causing death by careless driving on October 5, 2007.
He was found guilty after a defended hearing in the Kaikohe District Court yesterday.
Mr Thorin died when the bicycle he was riding to practice with the Kaeo volunteer fire brigade was struck from behind by Benson about 7pm on April 24, 2007.
Mr Thorin, originally from Sweden, moved to Gisborne with his family when he was six. He later attended Bay of Islands College and Kerikeri High School.
He trained as a pilot and became chief flying instructor at Quantum Aviation in Kerikeri.
In court yesterday, Benson said he was on his way to visit his girlfriend at Cooper's Beach when suddenly he heard a "big bang" before the windscreen shattered.
"I had no idea what I had hit. I heard a bang and for a few seconds thought, `what's happening?' Then I saw the windscreen folding in and knew I'd hit something," Benson said.
"I ran back where other cars had stopped and saw him lying on the ground. I put my hands on my head and started to freak out."
Benson said there was no oncoming traffic and the evening was dark but clear.
During an interview played in court, Constable Dawn Bestwick asked why he had been driving despite being disqualified. Benson said it was stupidity on his part but he thought he could get away with it because it was dark.
He was disqualified from driving for six months on March 13, 2007.
Benson admitted using marijuana at 12.30pm on the day of the accident but denied it had an effect on his driving.
Senior Constable Warren Bunn of the police Serious Crash Unit said Mr Thorin's bicycle broke into three pieces. Mr Thorin was wearing a reflector on his right leg when he was hit.
Two motorists who passed Mr Thorin just before the crash said he was wearing dark clothing and was not visible, except for dimly flashing lights on his bicycle.
Defence lawyer Steve Nicholson submitted a "no case to answer" on the basis there was no evidence that proved his client was driving carelessly. He said just because he struck Mr Thorin did not mean his driving was at fault.
But Judge Hikaka was satisfied prosecutor Sergeant Graham Ford had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
He ordered Benson to pay $500 reparation to the Robin Thorin Memorial Fund for emotional harm and disqualified him from holding or obtaining a driver's licence for 12 months.
About 400 people, including 65 firefighters in a guard of honour, attended Mr Thorin's funeral at the Kaeo Fire Station on April 29 last year.
Man who killed had no licence
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