Drunk teen fled fatal crash - court

File photo / HOS

A 16-year-old drunk driver ran from the scene of a crash which killed a friend, threatening to hurt a helper if he told police who was driving, a court has been told.

Harmony Wihongi, also 16, was killed when the car she was in lost control on a bend of State Highway 67 north of Westport on October 24 last year.

The driver, who cannot be named, was charged with dangerous driving causing death, drink driving, failing to report an accident and threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm.

In Westport Youth Court yesterday, the boy did not deny any of the four charges against him.

Miss Wihongi was thrown from the vehicle after it crashed into a ditch and rolled several times, Westport Community Constable Paul Sampson told the court.

The driver went back to the road to flag down passing vehicles and several motorists gathered at the accident site to assist, he said.

The driver pleaded with bystanders not to call police, but emergency services were called anyway and soon after sirens were heard in the distance.

The driver said: "That means the cops are on their way. I'm out of here."

He began to walk away from the scene, but Miss Wihongi called out to him and he turned back.

People at the scene tried to convince him to stay.

He turned to one person and threatened to harm him if he told police who had been driving, then ran off. Miss Wihongi died at the scene about 40 minutes after the crash.

Police found the driver at home the same night with an excess breath alcohol of 453mcg, three times the legal limit for an under-20-year-old.

Judge Robert Murfitt told the driver that he had "acknowledged his role in these charges" and the next step would be a family group conference with both families.

Miss Wihongi's family, the driver's family, social workers and police would all have a part to play in assessing what punishments were appropriate and what "needs to happen to put matters right", Judge Murfitt said.

"Your whanau has been devastated by what happened. The driver's family has been also devastated though in a different way. Both families will have to live with the consequences as will (the driver) for the rest of his life."

Judge Murfitt encouraged Miss Wihongi's family to attend the group conference and to "play a constructive role to respect the memory of your daughter and sister and see what can be done as much as possible to put things right for her".

He said it would be a difficult meeting for the driver and should be, because the driver would have to acknowledge what he had done and apologise to Miss Wihongi's family.

Hopefully, the meeting would be a step towards resolving some of the grief all members of the families had endured.

He told Miss Wihongi's mother that in a situation like this it was "important to preserve your own dignity".

- NZPA