The crash occurred along the main route between Queenstown and Wānaka on Cardrona Valley Rd.
The crash occurred along the main route between Queenstown and Wānaka on Cardrona Valley Rd.
A tourist on his honeymoon in New Zealand has been sentenced after admitting causing a serious crash near Wānaka that left four people injured, including his wife.
Hong Kong resident Ka Ho Cheung, 31, pleaded guilty in the Dunedin District Court to four charges of aggravated careless driving causing injurythis month.
Judge Hermann Retzlaff sentenced Cheung to pay a total of $40,000 in emotional harm reparations to the three other victims in individual amounts of $29,000, $12,500 and $7500.
Cheung was also disqualified from holding a driver’s licence for 30 months.
Judge Retzlaff said the level of culpability relied on the fact that Cheung had driven after a long period of travel and had not taken adequate rest.
He noted Cheung’s remorse, positive character recommendations, desire to partake in reparations, as well as his lack of criminal record or convictions of any kind.
Cheung’s lawyer, Piers Blomfield, argued that the crash occurred after Cheung fell asleep at the wheel. He had been driving within the speed limit.
Members of Cheung’s church supported him from the public gallery during his sentencing today, and his wife was outside the court.
As Cheung drove down the Cardrona Valley, a motorist behind him noticed erratic speed changes and the vehicle drifting towards the road edge several times.
As Cheung approached a right-hand bend near the intersection with High Country Lane, he crossed the centre line and collided with a trailer being towed by a Kia Sorento, travelling in the opposite direction.
Cheung was sentenced today in the Dunedin District Court. Photo / George Heard
His vehicle then spun into the path of an oncoming MG carrying three foreign nationals who were studying in New Zealand.
One of the MG passengers, aged 20, was thrown from the vehicle and suffered significant head and facial injuries.
He was flown to the Christchurch Hospital intensive care unit, where he remains with neurological damage.
The MG’s 21-year-old driver suffered multiple broken bones, while another passenger suffered fractured ribs and bruising.
Cheung’s wife needed surgery at Dunedin Hospital for abdominal injuries.
Cheung told police he recalled hiring the vehicle in Queenstown and driving towards Wānaka, but had no memory of the crash.
Judge Retzlaff read statements from three of the victims, the first stating that the crash had affected him physically as well as financially, including his ability to complete his studies.
The second victim statement outlined that the victim suffered post-traumatic stress disorder from the incident, as well as facing expenses related to recovery.
Aggravated careless driving causing injury carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment.
At the time, the Herald reported that the crash had closed Cardrona Valley Rd, with locals praising a nearby farmer who allowed hundreds of vehicles to pass through his paddock.
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.
