KEY POINTS:
Last Sunday morning, Gordon Manu Armstrong awoke at a Putaruru home after a night of heavy drinking.
Either still drunk from the night before or with a few for the road under his belt, 53-year-old Armstrong - a repeat drink-driver - got into his grey Honda with his
5-year-old son and granddaughters, aged 7 and 8.
He drove about 70km around Lake Rotorua to State Highway 33 near Rotorua.
There, his car smashed into two motorcycles, killing three friends and seriously injuring his child passengers, one of whom is still in Waikato Hospital.
Armstrong died after the crash, at 12.15pm on Sunday.
His reckless decision to get behind the wheel also claimed the lives of Papamoa friends Simon Joseph Short, 37, his partner Antoinette (Toni) Dommerholt-Purchase, 43, and their friend Leon Philip Mason, 33.
Police have taken the unusual step of revealing that a driver was drunk before test results prove it.
They say Armstrong was drinking with family or friends the night before and possibly on the morning of the crash.
And he should not have been driving, drunk or sober.
He was unlicensed, having not re-applied for his licence after being disqualified in 2000 following his third drink-driving offence.
He was caught drink-driving again in 2004.
Exactly how much Armstrong had consumed and what he had been drinking before the crash is unknown and it could be another week before his blood-alcohol levels and toxicology results are returned to the police.
The officer in charge of traffic in Rotorua, Senior Sergeant Ed Van Den Broek, said witnesses who saw Armstrong's car before the crash described his driving as "erratic".
The car was seen crossing the centre line at least once before the collision, which happened after Armstrong again crossed the centre line, about 5km north of Okere Falls.
Mr Van Den Broek said police had "pretty strong suspicions" Armstrong had consumed a considerable quantity of alcohol the evening before and perhaps even the morning of the smash.
He urged family and friends to take responsibility for their loved ones and stop them driving drunk to prevent similar tragedies.
Bay of Plenty road policing manager Inspector Kevin Taylor agreed, saying the issue of drink-driving was not only a police problem but a community one.
"It's absolutely appalling how many people, with their friends and families, get into cars and drive away. And worst of all with kids in the car.
"What kind of human beings are they to let that happen?"
He said it was even more shocking as Sunday's crash occurred within two months of Auckland man Shannon Perenara, 30, passing out at a Rotorua service station, having driven there drunk with his 2-year-old daughter in the car.
Perenara, also a repeat drink-driver, was sentenced to 18 months' prison for being more than four times over the legal breath-alcohol limit.
Heartbreaking day of farewells
He was a hard-working "gentle giant" who loved children, she was a proud mother, a perfectionist, with a fondness for Jaffas.
Antoinette (Toni) Dommerholt-Purchase, 43, and her partner Simon Short, 37, were farewelled by hundreds of mourners in Mt Maunganui yesterday.
Their friend and fellow rider, Leon Mason, was farewelled on Thursday. Yesterday, his wife, Jos Mason, stood and spoke, expressing her sadness and extending her support to the other families in the tragedy.
The driver of the car that killed the trio, Gordon Armstrong, was farewelled yesterday also.
About 100 people were at his tangi at Whakaaratamaiti Marae, near Putaruru, and relatives said they were focused on supporting the three children who were with him in his car when it crashed into motorbikes ridden by Mr Short, Ms Purchase (who was riding pillion) and Mr Mason.
A woman speaking on behalf of Armstrong's immediate family told the Weekend Herald they wanted to be left alone to grieve, but their thoughts were with the other families.
The woman declined to be named or reveal her relationship with Armstrong, but said: "All we've ever said is that we send a lot of love to them.
"Our love is with them in their time of pain and grief.
"We understand what they're going through," she said.
Armstrong had three children, the youngest a 5-year-old son.
The boy was not at the tangi but Armstrong's granddaughters attended, one wearing a purple fairy dress and using crutches.
Their mother, Armstrong's daughter, declined to comment, other than to say "they're fine" when asked how the girls were doing.
Armstrong's son is understood to have two wounds in the stomach that will require on-going specialist treatment.
His older brother, Luke, said the 5-year-old was "all good" and indicated that he was also relieved the two girls, who live in Tauranga, were not seriously injured.
Asked about his father's drinking and driving habits, the teenager said: "I don't know too much about that. I just came here to bury him."
