Dad furious at hit-and-run driver's delay in coming forward

William Hoskins. Photo / Supplied, Facebook

The grieving father of a man killed in a wedding day hit-and-run smash is shocked that a community magistrate may have been travelling in the car.

The magistrate was understood to have been a passenger in the car, which allegedly hit 26-year-old Hastings man William Hoskins.

He died after being run over early on January 15 at Matangi, south of Hamilton.

A 47-year-old man appeared in Hamilton District Court last week charged with careless driving causing death and was granted name suppression. The accused is understood to have handed himself into police the day after the incident.

"If a magistrate was involved then I would like to know why it took so long for anyone to come forward," the victim's dad, Greg Hoskins, said last night. "There is something seriously amiss here."

Hoskins said he had no idea why his son was on the road when he was hit between 4.30am and 4.50am.

William had attended the wedding of a cousin the previous night and he assumed he had been trying to walk back to the Riverside of Cambridge Motel and Conference Centre after drinking with friends.

The distraught father said he hoped justice would be done and was angry that he couldn't attend the court appearance last Thursday.

He claimed no one had told him it had been brought forward from Friday.

"I only found out afterwards from Victim Support that it had been and gone, and that the man will be back in court next month.

"I'll definitely be there. I want to see his face."

The deceased was a popular man who enjoyed rugby and music. He had worked for his father's concreting company JMC Concrete in Hastings for the past five years after finishing an electrical apprenticeship.

"I still can't work out what happened to William because I was on that road just a few hours earlier and the conditions were fine. You could see for miles," Hoskins said. "This is an absolute tragedy for the whole family."

Hoskins was found injured and bleeding by a motorist. He was still breathing when emergency services arrived but died shortly afterwards.