KEY POINTS:
A policeman who crashed his car seriously injuring a schoolboy, was acting outside of police guidelines and should have stopped the pursuit of a car when he lost sight of it.
Aaron Holmes, 29, was convicted in Auckland District Court in June of aggravated careless use of a
motor vehicle causing injury.
Holmes lost control of his vehicle while pursuing a driver who had avoided a checkpoint in August last year.
His unmarked police vehicle crashed into a car waiting at a pedestrian crossing outside an Auckland primary school, before striking a lamp post which fell on 13-year-old Mt Roskill Grammar student Farhat Buksh -leaving him with serious brain injuries.
Judge Ian McHardy in Auckland District Court today convicted Holmes, deciding not to discharge without conviction as defence lawyers had sought.
Holmes was disqualified from driving for one year and one day and was ordered to pay $3000 to his victim.
Defence lawyer James Maddox told the court Holmes was not trying to evade responsibility for his actions, saying it was "almost a freak crash".
"It is not the consequences you would have expected from a simple tail end collision."
Mr Maddox said the impact on Holmes' personal and professional life would be huge and asked the court to discharge without conviction.
Holmes had already been turned down by the police dog section after applying to work in the team and had not driven a police car since the crash, he said.
"A conviction will only effect him only more."
Holmes was not driving in a grossly careless manner, rather it was the inattention at the moment at the crossing which led to the accident, he said.
Judge McHardy said Holmes' decisions that day had led to tragic consequences and he could not justify speeding while on duty in pursuit of an offender.
Holmes' actions were not a momentary lapse but instead showed little regard for what was ahead, he said.
There was no justification for travelling between 70-80km/h in a 50km/h speed zone, he said.
Holmes had a responsibility to take appropriate care, he said.
"You were not justified in driving at that speed in those circumstances."
Judge McHardy said Holmes should have discontinued the pursuit when he lost sight of the vehicle, as per the policy in the police guidelines.
"This was not a pursuit situation."
Farhat, who lives and is cared for by his grandmother Nisha Ali, wrote in his victim impact report that his life had been forever changed by the accident.
Farhat sat in the public gallery, next to his grandmother and listened as Judge McHardy read out parts of his statement.
"My friends are not happy with me, they want me to be the person I was before the accident," the statement read.
Farhat said he had on-going emotional and physical issues and the impact on his grandmother was huge.
The accident had also taken a financial toll.
"It has affected my life. I don't want this to happen to anyone else."
Outside the court Ms Ali told media her family had had no contact with Holmes and it was up to God to forgive him.
Farhat had returned to school but found it hard to concentrate on his studies, she said.
"He is much better but he is not back to normal."
- NZPA
