Drink driver Tuifua Vaiti sentenced to home detention for death of Auckland pedestrian Monty Nahi

A young motorist who was nearly twice the legal limit for alcohol when he fatally hit a pedestrian in South Auckland has been sentenced to home detention after the victim’s mother asked a district court judge today to show the defendant mercy.

After consuming an estimated four to six drinks, Tuifua Vaiti, 22, was driving home about 1.30am last July when he hit Monty Nahi at the intersection of St George St and Shirley Rd in Papatoetoe.

“As the defendant drove through the intersection, the victim suddenly crossed the road, resulting in a direct collision with the left frontal area of the defendant’s vehicle and causing extensive damage to the left side of the vehicle’s windscreen,” according to the case’s agreed summary of facts.

“The defendant maintains that he was travelling through the intersection on a green light and the Crown is unable to rebut that claim.”

Vaiti stopped to help the stranger, calling an ambulance and moving Nahi’s unconscious body from the roadway to the footpath with the help of a bystander. But Nahi, who had recently left detox at Middlemore Hospital, suffered serious head trauma and died shortly thereafter.

Vaiti left the scene after the ambulance arrived but before police did. He called police from his Ōtara home and was given a breath test. Although two hours had passed since the crash, the defendant was found to have 513 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

The defendant pleaded guilty to excess alcohol causing death during his first appearance in Manuka District Court in October. The offence carries a maximum possible punishment of 10 years’ imprisonment.

In a written victim impact statement read aloud by prosecutors today, Nahi’s 62-year-old mother said her son’s death has been difficult to deal with, but she was consoled to know Vaiti stopped and offered comfort as her son was dying.

“I want to tell the driver of the car I forgive him,” she wrote. “We as a family hope he doesn’t get a harsh sentence.”

Nahi’s partner, with whom he has a young daughter, described the victim as “the love of my life”.

Crown prosecutor Rob McDonald acknowledged the family’s forgiveness but also noted the defendant’s high level of intoxication and reminded Judge Gus Andree Wiltens that the death of a pedestrian is a serious matter.

Defence lawyer Todd Simmonds, meanwhile, asked for community detention for his client, noting his client’s remorse and his guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity. His client wasn’t driving recklessly or dangerously prior to the crash, Simmonds also said, emphasising that his client doesn’t see that as an excuse for having driven while impaired.

“He acknowledges that and he apologises wholeheartedly,” Simmonds said, describing his client as “fundamentally a good young man”.

Judge Wiltens acknowledged the defendant “had the good sense to stop ... and assist that person as best as you could” and described the crash as “very unfortunate all around” when many people drive with alcohol in their system without such a “catastrophic result”.

While the victim’s family doesn’t want jail, community detention would be insufficient when considering factors such as the need to deter others, the judge said. He instead ordered a sentence of nine months’ home detention followed by six months of post-detention conditions, as well as $2500 in reparations to the victim’s family.

Vaiti hugged crying supporters outside the courtroom after the hearing concluded.

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.