Auckland builder Anthony Williamson jailed for driving death manslaughter of Miaoyuan Liang

Takapuna builder Anthony David Williamson appears at Auckland High Court. Photo / Michael Craig

• North Shore businessman Anthony David Williamson was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for manslaughter.
• Williamson drove off with 70-year-old Miaoyuan Liang on his ute, causing her fatal fall.
• Justice Grant Powell rejected Williamson’s remorse claims, stating he failed to acknowledge Liang’s humanity.

A North Shore businessman is headed to prison after a judge pointed out today that he continues to show only crocodile tears for causing the death of a 70-year-old woman following a minor traffic accident.

It took jurors at Auckland High Court just over an hour in September to find Anthony David Williamson, 46, guilty of manslaughter. Victim Miaoyuan Liang had been standing on the running board of his ute, trying to get his attention, when he drove off at speed on the afternoon of September 10, 2022.

She fell from the vehicle and died four days later from a head injury.

“While you are now sorry for yourself ... you have still not understood what you did that has brought you to this court,” Justice Grant Powell said today. “You continue to see yourself as the victim ...”

The judge ordered a sentence of four years and six months’ imprisonment, rejecting all of the defendant’s discount requests including for remorse, rehabilitation efforts and his background.

The Takapuna builder had already been restricted from driving due to past offences when his Ford Ranger Raptor rear-ended a car belonging to Liang and her husband near the intersection of Cascades and Botany Rds in Botany, East Auckland. No one was injured in the crash and they all got out to inspect damage and take photos.

Anthony Williamson during sentencing at Auckland High Court. Photo / Michael Craig

According to the judge’s summary of the case, Liang and her husband, who moved to New Zealand from China, had some communication difficulties with Williamson and attempted to call their son to translate. The couple thought Williamson was going to pull to the side so they could continue assessing damage, so when he continued to drive down Cascades Rd they thought he was leaving the scene, the judge said.

After catching up to Williamson at the next intersection, where he was stopped at a red light, Liang started knocking firmly on his window and yelling to get his attention. Despite the fact she was standing on his running board at that time, he took off when the light turned green.

“Your defence is that you did not know she was there,” the judge said. “The jury clearly did not believe your explanation.”

The judge agreed.

“There is simply no way that you couldn’t have known Ms Liang was there on your running board,” he said, noting that she was wearing bright red and was yelling loud enough that it was heard on video from a nearby business.

Williamson drove about 194 metres with Liang on the side of his vehicle, accelerating to 43km/h by the time he was in the centre of the intersection before slowing to 25km/h at the time of her fall, according to data from his own vehicle. Vehicle data also shows that he opened the ute door as she was still gripping to the side – a move that, prosecutor Bernadette Vaili argued, was intended to cause her fall.

He briefly came to a halt after the fall, but it was only to close his door.

“A member of the public tried to prevent you from leaving the scene but you sped off,” the judge said, noting that he reached a speed of 89km/h.

Miaoyuan Liang, 70, died in September 2022 following an incident near the intersections of Cascades and Botany Rds in Botany, East Auckland. Anthony David Williamson has been charged with manslaughter. Photo / Google

Liang’s husband and son sat in the courtroom gallery today – her son wiping away tears with the collar of his hoodie – as prosecutors read aloud their victim impact statements for them.

“The unfortunate death of my beloved wife had brought unbearable pain ... leaving only loneliness and silence,” her husband said. “Every time I drive I can only look at the empty passenger seat.”

Her son noted that Liang had been celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, an annual Chinese holiday, and had been out to get a roast duck for the meal that day. He recalled receiving a call from his father but no one was on the line, followed by a call from a stranger a short time later.

“I’m sorry, your mother is unconscious and lying in the middle of the road,” he recalled the stranger telling him. “We have called an ambulance. Please come over.”

His mother had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease during the final two years of her life but was otherwise healthy and in good spirits, he said, adding that he had been optimistic she had many more years of life left.

“She could have enjoyed the rest of her life happily – the sun, the beach and time with her family,” he said. “I cannot understand why someone would do this, even if there was communication barriers. He clearly knew my mother was on the car door and he clearly chose to step on the accelerator.”

The judge pointed out that during Williamson’s trial he at no point seemed to recognise Liang’s humanity – “that she was a person, a beloved wife and mother”. It was a sentiment that seemed to be echoed during his police interview, the judge said, noting that he never asked if the victim was okay and instead tried to portray her as “some sort of unsavoury character who was attempting a scam”.

“Your letters [of remorse written after the verdict] show quite simply that nothing has changed,” Justice Powell said.

Takapuna builder Anthony David Williamson appears in Auckland High Court. Photo / Michael Craig

Williamson wrote seven remorse letters, including to the court, the victim’s family and to the community. But the unusual quantity didn’t make up for lack of substance, the judge said, noting that the letters continue to contradict the evidence. In them, Williamson claimed that Liang fell after he had stopped the vehicle and that he didn’t see her. There’s a difference, the judge said, between offering condolences and remorse that is demonstrated by acknowledging responsibility.

Manslaughter carries one of the largest sentencing ranges in New Zealand, from life imprisonment down to home detention. During today’s hearing, Williamson appeared to hold out hope for the latter.

Defence lawyer Panama Le’au’anae asked the judge for a starting point of four years and three months, to be followed by substantial deductions for his client’s background, remorse, rehabilitative efforts and his offer to make a $2500 emotional harm payment.

In a report prepared for the hearing, Williamson said that his parents split when he was young, he had academic struggles and he had been bullied in school. In more recent years, his own marriage had ended and his businesses failed. He said he turned to alcohol to cope, although he insisted he wasn’t drinking or using drugs on the day of the crash.

His lawyer also noted that Williamson’s woes continue to mount: he has been seriously assaulted in prison and his ute has since been stolen along with all his tools.

The Crown, meanwhile, asked for a starting point of five years’ imprisonment.

Justice Powell noted that Williamson’s childhood appeared privileged compared to many people who come before the court. He acknowledged that Williamson “faced a variety of challenges in the last few years”. There appeared, however, to be no causative link to the offending, he said.

In a somewhat unusual circumstance for a New Zealand courtroom, the judge’s starting point – four years and six months – was also the endpoint after he found no need for uplifts or deductions.

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.

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