Brooklyn Clark. Photo / Supplied
The family of a young man in custody over the Christmas Day deaths of his teen cousins are angry he will miss their funeral today - and say he will have to live with the tragedy for the rest of his life.
The 20-year-old Auckland man appeared in the Tauranga District Court yesterday facing two counts of manslaughter over a car crash which claimed the lives of sisters Merepeka Morehu-Clark, 14, and Brooklyn Morehu-Clark, 13, on Welcome Bay Rd near Tauranga at 4.20pm.
The man, who was driving the vehicle in which the sisters, sitting in the back seat, died, has been remanded in custody to reappear next Wednesday. All other details of yesterday's brief hearing, which was attended by the man's parents and several other family members, were suppressed by the court.
Outside court, his father said he believed his son should have been allowed to attend his cousins' tangi, which is being held at Welcome Bay's Tahuwhakatiki Marae, on the same road as the crash scene.
"I don't know what to say, I thought it was a bit harsh," he said. "If [he] would have got bailed, he would have been on 24-hour curfew anyway."
Family - including Phillipa Morehu, the girls' mother - had visited the driver in hospital before he was interviewed and subsequently charged by police.
"Everyone that's involved and their family have all been to see him, even the mother of the two girls," his father said. "I did ask him if he didn't want to go [to] the tangi but he said that's okay, he wanted to go to the funeral."
His son had injured his hip in the crash and had also been left with "a bit of a hole" in his left leg.
"He was okay, he didn't mind talking about it," his father said.
He was close to his cousins, whom he was visiting for Christmas with family in Tauranga.
"He's got to live with it for the rest of his life, I suppose."
Two crosses bearing the girls' names have been erected near where they died.
The car in which they were travelling allegedly sped past another vehicle and slammed into a Mitsubishi ute and rolled on to its roof.
The two girls were on their way to visit their grandmother's grave at Tahuwhakatiki Cemetery when they were killed.
"It was a nice day until we each went our different ways," said their father, Wiremu Clark.
He said his daughters were not wearing seat belts and he warned other motorists to "just drive safe".
"It's time to buckle up. Our children are the best things you can ever have, and I've lost two," Mr Clark said.
The driver of the ute, Brett McCready, was also visiting family in Tauranga. He suffered minor injuries. He was recovering with family.
Police wish to speak with anyone who may have seen the Honda, a black Mitsubishi Lancer and another blue Honda, travelling in Orion Drive, Waikite Rd and Welcome Bay Rd between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Christmas Day.