Company director who drove into two Auckland women walking their dogs sentenced for hit and run

The man was driving a Ford Ranger SUV and listening to a Zoom call moments before he struck two women walking their dogs on a semi-rural North Shore road. He then drove away. Illustration / Paul Slater

After striking two dog walkers with his SUV, an experienced tradie panicked and drove off without checking if the two badly injured women were even alive. He later told police he thought he’d hit a recycling bin. A judge didn’t believe him, saying: “He knew exactly what he’d done.” Lane Nichols reports.

A respected company director was on a Zoom call and trying to ring his mother moments before his Ford Ranger ploughed into two women walking their dogs on a semi-rural Auckland road.

Panicking, the man pulled over 50m down the road to inspect the damage to his vehicle.

But as the women lay badly injured in a ditch, crying out for help, he jumped back into his ute and drove away.

The then 39-year-old tradie handed himself in to police more than 24 hours later, telling officers he thought he’d hit a recycling bin.

A judge said the man’s explanations simply weren’t credible.

“It would have been clear to him that he’d hit someone,” Judge Mark Williams said.

At an emotionally charged sentencing hearing at North Shore District Court last week, the man came face to face with the two women as they gave powerful victim impact statements detailing the traumatic and lasting effects of his offending.

Limping to the front of the courtroom on crutches, both her feet still in moon boots, Carol* told the man his actions had robbed her of her confidence, self-esteem and precious family time.

She would never understand how he sped away as she and her friend lay broken without checking if they were still alive.

“You drove off and left us. The silence was deafening. We cried out for help.

“Your guilty plea doesn’t repair the physical and emotional damage you’ve caused me, my friend and our dogs after you hit us with your vehicle and immediately left the scene.

“It doesn’t calm the visions I still have of lying in a ditch, unable to move, feeling helpless and alone.”

‘I realised it was going to hit us’

The incident happened about 7.10am on Sunday, June 8, on a semi-rural North Shore road.

The man, who can’t be named while he decides whether to take a bid for permanent suppression to the High Court, had left home and was driving alone.

The court heard he was distracted by a Zoom call and trying to ring his mother, and failed to keep a proper look out.

Walking in single file with their dogs on the left-hand verge of the road were best friends Carol and Deb*. It was a routine they had enjoyed every Sunday morning for 20 years.

Their dogs had also been “best mates”, Carol told the court.

Deb looked back and saw the ute approaching them. She noted it was close to the verge and in danger of careering into the ditch.

“It was not until the last few seconds I realised it was going to hit us.”

She remembered the sound of Carol’s body being struck.

Deb’s dog was hit next before she was sent flying. She recalled lying on the road after the impact and seeing the vehicle “driving away”.

“We stayed where we were and called out for help. ‘Help, help, we’ve been hit’.”

Her dog, a border collie, was badly hurt. His leg was sticking out at an odd angle and he tried to bite Deb as she gently stroked his head.

“He had blood in his eyes and around his mouth and teeth. He couldn’t stand up. He looked so scared.”

Carol’s jeans had been ripped off below the knees. A piece of the vehicle’s bumper lay at the crash site.

“She was asking me to please find her dog. It was nowhere in sight. She was telling me she was in pain. I remember telling her to lie still and not move.”

Deb had suffered a broken rib and fractured wrist. She found her phone and contacted family members, but could barely work the device because she was shaking uncontrollably.

Neighbours who heard the collision soon appeared, along with Carol’s son.

‘I believed this must be what dying felt like’

Carol told the court she remembered her son holding her hand and trying to comfort her as they waited for the ambulance.

“All I wanted to do was close my eyes. In that moment I believed this must be what dying felt like, and I wanted to make that moment matter.”

She said she thought about her sons and how much she loved them, and spoke of her relief when paramedics arrived.

Her dog was found uninjured 12 hours later after members of the community mounted a search.

One of the neighbours who assisted was taken to hospital that day after suffering a heart attack due to stress.

“Your actions have affected so many lives,” Carol said.

Carol spent 12 days in hospital and underwent multiple surgeries due to the severity of her injuries.

She spent 12 days in hospital and underwent multiple surgeries for a raft of serious injuries.

“I was taken for X-ray after X-ray as doctors discovered more fractures.”

She was given a morphine pump for the pain but it made her vomit. It was nine days before she was able to shower.

The ongoing physical pain and emotional trauma had affected every part of her life. Once strong and independent, she was now reliant on others for basic tasks.

She said she suffered from “frequent bouts of sadness” and was overwhelmed at what lay ahead.

“I continue to carry the consequences of what happened to me.

“What you did that day was life-changing for me and my family.”

Carol said the area where they were run down had no footpaths. It was used frequently by children. No one had been hit until now.

“I never met you before and yet there hasn’t been a single day since that morning that I’m not reminded of you.”

Driver asks court for permanent suppression and discharge without conviction

Police charged the man with two counts of careless driving causing injury and one of “failing to stop or ascertain injury or death”.

The latter charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

However, the man sought permanent name suppression and a discharge without conviction, fearing he could lose his franchise contract if the parent company learned of his offending.

Carol said the applications were “driven by self-preservation”. She questioned why the man should “get to carry on your life” when she and Deb had been dealt life sentences.

“How could you drive off without checking what or who you hit, to see if we were still alive?”

Deb said her dog had to be carried from the scene in a blanket. He underwent surgery and was discharged home but quickly deteriorated.

It had been awful to see him suffering, she said.

“As a family we made the decision to end his life on the Thursday. As a family we were devastated.”

Deb still had “troubled and distressing” visions of her pet lying injured at the crash site.

She had suffered a panic attack and flashbacks. She now had a fear of vehicles, and strangely, of dogs.

“I struggle to understand why he didn’t get help for us and chose not to hand himself in for 24 hours.”

Judge labels man’s recycling bin claims ‘inconceivable’

The man’s lawyer Graeme Newell said his client was remorseful, had no previous convictions and had taken part in a restorative justice process with the victims.

He had already paid the women $5000 each in reparation.

His insurer had agreed to cover Deb’s more than $12,000 vet bill and medical costs, and was expected to do the same for Carol.

Newell said the man was the face of his business and employed several staff. He feared being terminated by the franchise company if he was named in connection with the incident or convicted.

“There’s a great deal at stake for him.”

Newell accepted his client had been distracted for some time to cause the accident and that the lapse “wasn’t fleeting”.

The man appeared for sentencing last week at North Shore District Court after pleading guilty to careless driving causing injury and failing to stop.

Judge Williams agreed, saying the case fell in the upper end of careless driving.

He dismissed suggestions the man thought he’d hit a recycling bin as “inconceivable”.

“I take the view it would have been obvious to him what happened. The reality is he would have known he hit something quite significant and he didn’t stop. He knew exactly what he did.”

The judge said: “No one could fail to be moved by hearing the impact this has had.

“While physical injuries will heal over time, the emotional impact of Mr [redacted] actions will last a lifetime.”

The man’s decision to drive off without offering assistance or calling for help delayed medical attention being provided.

“I accept that he shows remorse, however I have no doubt there’s an element of remorse for the position that Mr [redacted] now finds himself in.”

Weighing the man’s discharge application, the judge said suppression should not be used “as a tool to protect commercial interest”.

The franchise company should be allowed to decide whether his actions warranted termination, “not this court”.

The judge also threw out the man’s suppression application, ruling the potential impacts of being named were a natural consequence of his offending – but allowed 20 working days for an appeal.

The defendant was a respected professional. His customers had a right to know about his offending.

He was sentenced to 200 hours’ community work and disqualified from driving for 12 months. But the formal sentencing was adjourned for reparation matters to be finalised.

*The victims’ names were suppressed

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