For eight decades, Richard Gordon Blamey maintained a spotless record - no criminal convictions, and not so much as a single speeding ticket.
It’s an achievement that not even many judges would be able to boast, it was pointed out to him recently.
But the accolade came amid an atmosphere of misery, as the 83-year-old appeared in the Manukau District Court recently to be sentenced for a crash that brought that once-impressive streak to a tragic end.
The Ōtara, South Auckland resident was charged in October with careless operation of a vehicle causing death and careless operation causing injury, both of which carry sentences of up to three months’ imprisonment and a $4500 fine.
There was no suggestion that imprisonment was on the table for the defendant as he appeared before Judge Luke Radich last week. In addition to his prior good character and blemish-free driving record, he pleaded guilty to the charges almost immediately and had garnered the sympathy of the victim’s family - all factors that work in a defendant’s favour.
But the court process was necessary regardless.
Judge Radich remarked at length on the dynamic emotions in court, including the forgiveness expressed by the family of victim Svend Aage Olesen. Only Olesen’s daughter, a local professor, attended the hearing but other members of his family submitted victim impact statements that were read aloud.
“They are simultaneously harrowing because of the subject matter and uplifting ...” the judge said. “There is a theme to these victim impact statements ... of uncommon and remarkable magnanimity. They have my sympathy and admiration.
“This is also a tragic situation for Mr Blamey ... There are no winners in this process.”
Court documents state the crash occurred around 8am on a Thursday last May as Blamey pulled out of the carpark at the Why Knot Outlet Shop in East Tāmaki. The popular discount grocery store - located off Springs Rd, with a 60 km/h limit - often necessitates overflow parking during weekends, although it’s not known how busy it was that morning.
As he tried to steer the car into one of the road’s two northbound lanes, Blamey crossed over the southbound lanes where a Honda Civic was approaching.
“He crossed directly into the path of the Honda,” the brief agreed summary of facts for his case states. “The front of the defendant’s vehicle collided with the front corner of the victim’s vehicle.”
Olesen was in the front passenger seat of the other vehicle. His son was driving, and his wife in the back seat. He was taken to Middlemore Hospital with chest injuries. He died two days later as a result of those injuries combined with age-related “frailty syndrome”.
“The defendant stated it was a miscalculation on his part,” court documents state.
“It was a momentary lapse of judgment ... which has resulted in tragic consequences,” defence lawyer Graham Reid further explained, noting that there had been no alcohol involved and his client wasn’t driving dangerously before or after the crash.
“Had the victims been a bit younger, perhaps things wouldn’t have ended up as tragically as they did.”
Judge Radich agreed, noting that he had viewed photos of the vehicles.
“There was not the sort of damage one might see in a fatal accident,” he said. “It really was an accident in the truest sense of the word.”
Through the court process, Blamey had tried to give the family emotional harm reparation. They suggested he instead give the money to a charity, so he paid $2000 to the Hato Hone St John ambulance service.
It was also undisputed that Blamey would need to be disqualified from driving for at least one year, although his lawyer said he was considering never renewing his licence because he had lost his confidence.
More than most similar cases, that disqualification served a strong punitive aspect, his lawyer said.
He explained that Blamey is the sole caregiver for his wife, who suffers from dementia and is entirely dependent on him. He retired last year to give her full-time care after a 57-year career that included a long stint with the Department of Corrections.
The couple will make do with taxis or Uber while they can, but the case may end up meaning they enter a retirement home sooner than originally planned, Reid said.
Prosecutor Usha Keller acknowledged Blamey’s remorse and suggested a sentence of home detention or community detention.
Judge Radich agreed with the defence that home detention would be too strict an outcome given the facts of the case. There really wasn’t a need for another punitive element to the sentence, he said.
It also wouldn’t make sense to impose community detention, which would include a community work requirement.
“Given your age, Mr Blamey, and your commitments to your wife, I don’t think there would be any utility at all in imposing a sentence of that nature,” he said.
“It is accepted that your carelessness here was at a low level, despite the cataclysmic consequences.”
He added: “This is something you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life.”
He ordered the mandatory driving disqualification and noted the $2000 that had already been paid to charity. But there was one other step Blamey could take to try to put things right, he said, pointing out that the victim’s wife has suffered long-term hearing loss since the crash and has been unable to get ACC funding for hearing aids.
Although the family showed “tremendous selflessness” in declining the earlier reparation offer, he wanted to give them a chance to reconsider. He ordered Blamey to pay $5000 more, to go towards hearing aid expenses.
If Olesen’s family still doesn’t want the money, the judge said, “Then I respect that and I wouldn’t ask you to pay anything more”.
“I am conscious, however, that there are very practical ongoing costs associated with this,” he said.
In a written victim impact read aloud in court, Olesen’s widow said she struggled to find happiness any more.
“I am still not like I was,” she said.
A daughter of his who lives in Denmark recalled how she was unable to rush to his bedside in his last days because her own health struggles at the time meant she couldn’t travel. It bothers her that she couldn’t say goodbye, she said, adding: “I am sad just knowing he is not with us.”
Speaking in person, Olesen’s daughter who lives in Auckland recalled some of the adjustments they have had to make since his death.
“It impacted my ability to grieve, taking care of everyone else’s needs,” she said, explaining that she now serves as the main driver to her mother’s appointments because the crash so rattled her brother.
For months, she said, her mother didn’t want to leave the house.
But she recounted the struggles with no ill will towards the defendant. Outside court, after the judge announced the sentence, she and Blamey shared a hug.
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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