Far North man wants tougher penalties for drugged drivers after mum, little brother die in head-on crash

Herbert brothers grieving the loss of their mother and little brother, from left, Taniora, Tini, Santos, 9, Dallas, MJ, 13, and Alec, 15. Photo / Peter de Graaf

A Far North family devastated by a double-fatal crash caused by a driver who’d been taking drugs say they’ve been let down by a justice system they feel treated the lives of their mother and little brother as if they were worth just a short stint in jail.

Craig William Thomson was sentenced to three years’ prison earlier this year after an April 2022 crash north of Kāeo that took the lives of Denise Samson, 47, and her youngest son, Shannon Herbert, 11.

Two other sons, and Thomson’s own boy, were seriously injured.

Thomson pleaded guilty to two charges of driving causing death while his blood contained the drugs methamphetamine and cannabis and three of causing injury.

Tini Herbert, second-oldest of Denise Samson’s six remaining sons, said no sentence could make up for lost lives but he believed Thomson’s jail term was “atrocious” and nowhere near enough.

The courts needed to treat deaths caused by drivers under the influence of drugs as harshly as drink-driving.

“A life is a life. You can’t tell me my mum’s life, or my brother’s life, was worth one year. You get a tougher penalty if you’re drink-driving but because he was on drugs he got one year. I say one, because ... that’s when he’ll be eligible for parole,” he said.

“When we first walked into that courtroom with the information and understanding we were given by the prosecutor and our victim support team, everything sounded sweet to us. They were pushing for all the sort of things we wanted. But when it came to sentencing, it was like everything we were told throughout that whole process never happened.”

Tini Herbert said Thomson had a good lawyer who made sure he went through rehabilitation and various courses to reduce his sentence.

“I understand his lawyer was doing his job but in our hearts and in our minds, our mum and our little brother’s lives were worth more than that.”

The brothers made sure the court felt their pain — so much so that at one point they were told to be mindful of the pain felt by the driver’s family.

“I’m sitting there like, do you understand the details of this case? You’re trying to tell me I have to be mindful of what his family is going through because at the moment, I really don’t give a s*** what his family is going through because they get to see him this afternoon. Me and my brothers have to live without our mum and our little brother.”

The family’s favourite photo of Denise Samson and her youngest son Shannon Herbert, who died in a crash near Kāeo. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Originally from Pawarenga, in North Hokianga, the family moved to Kerikeri in 2018.

On the day of the crash, Denise Samson had been driving her three youngest sons to Taipā to watch one of their big brothers play league for the Whangaroa Marlins.

Shannon Herbert, who had turned 11 a few days earlier, was “the purest of the pure”, Tini Herbert said.

“He was just joyful. He had a smile that could change the mood of the room. He was Mum’s baby, the prince of everything. They were inseparable and that’s why it made sense that they died together, because they couldn’t live without each other.”

As for their mother, there was nothing she wouldn’t do for her seven sons and one whāngai daughter.

“She was that type of person. Her door was always open to our friends, to street kids, whoever needed it.”

They were buried in the family urupā at Pawarenga while the brothers were sticking together in what had been their mother’s Kāinga Ora home.

The two brothers who survived the crash were still recovering from terrible injuries and mental trauma.

One, aged 14 at the time, suffered leg, knee and hip fractures, and needed facial reconstruction surgery.

He would undergo regular surgery until he was 21 to replace his 3D-printed eye socket as he grew.

The other brother, then aged 12 and seated in the front, broke his leg, elbow and every toe, and was trapped next to his mother until he could be freed from the wreckage.

Tini Herbert wanted drug-driving, or “any kind of stupidity” that caused death on the roads, to be treated as seriously as drink-driving.

“I know it’s not an easy job to change laws but I think it’s necessary.”

He also had a plea to all drivers: “Don’t be an idiot. Look after each other on the roads. No one wants to go to funerals.”

“It’s not a very big community here so everyone knows everyone. Everyone should care about each other because if you remove that from society, you end up with a whole bunch of crap.”