A man accused of making illegal modifications to his car that caused a wheel to fly off and kill a schoolboy has been ordered by a judge not to drive until the trial verdict is delivered next week.
Gareth Stephen Taylor, 22, a fencer of Te Kuiti, was charged with dangerous
driving causing death after a wheel from his heavily modified car hit 10-year-old Logan Patterson outside Ngahinapouri School in March.
The 3 1/2-day trial ended in the Hamilton District Court yesterday with a ruling by Judge Merelina Burnett banning Taylor from driving until Tuesday.
"Having heard all the evidence, I don't propose to allow Mr Taylor to leave court today and drive."
Judge Burnett stuck to her decision despite argument from the accused's lawyer, Gavin Boot, that Taylor needed to drive for his job.
Crown prosecutor Philip Crayton said in his closing submission that illegal modifications made by Taylor, who worked for three years as a mechanical labourer, were directly linked to the accident.
The court had earlier been told that accident investigators found the rear wheels were attached with only three bolts, which were too short to hold the wheels securely.
Taylor had fitted an illegally modified differential to his 1974 Mazda 808. This, combined with a rear suspension that had been modified to have no play in the springs, put great stress on the remaining bolts.
The accused had admitted installing the welded differential and fitting shorter bolts to the wheels, but denied leaving off the fourth locking nut on each of the rear wheels.
Mr Crayton said that by ignoring or failing to notice the unsafe condition of the car Taylor had fallen well short of the care and competence the law required of drivers.
"Those features, both individually and collectively, were the reasons for the detachment of that wheel and led to the death of Logan Patterson."
Mr Boot said that, although Taylor admitted changing the car after it was certified in September 2000, he adamantly denied any knowledge of the missing bolts.
There was no reason for Taylor to make any connection between the installation of the welded differential and the wheel falling off, he said.
"Despite what the experts say, there was nothing to suggest this car was a danger on the road.
"You certainly wouldn't think that if you've got the wheels on properly they're going to fall off."
Taylor faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
A man accused of making illegal modifications to his car that caused a wheel to fly off and kill a schoolboy has been ordered by a judge not to drive until the trial verdict is delivered next week.
Gareth Stephen Taylor, 22, a fencer of Te Kuiti, was charged with dangerous
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