Family fury over fatal crash driver's sentence

Aaron Gourlay. Photo / NZ Herald

A teenager sentenced for killing a youth in a road crash laughed at the victim's cousin when asked on Facebook if he thought the tragedy was funny, a court heard yesterday.

Aaron Gourlay, 18, also joked about a crash in Mexico and boasted of the $20,000 in insurance he got after the crash, according to victim impact statements by the family of the Rotorua 17-year-old who died, Jesse Howe.

Yesterday in Rotorua, relatives expressed outrage at the six-month home detention sentence handed down to Gourlay, who earlier admitted 11 charges relating to both the fatal crash last year and a second crash this year.

On July 17 last year, Gourlay was driving 11 other teenagers back from a party in Taupo when the van failed to take a left-hand bend, crossed the centreline and crashed on State Highway 5 near Rotorua.

All of those in the van were thrown from the vehicle. Jesse, who was the front-seat passenger, died 22 days later as a result of his injuries.

In Rotorua on March 19 this year, Gourlay crashed a friend's vehicle as he tried to overtake another car, hit a power pole, then rolled and crashed into a fence.

The front-seat passenger was injured and Gourlay, whose licence had already been revoked, received deep cuts but failed to notify police after the crash.

In a statement read by crown prosecutor Amanda Gordon, Jesse's father, Shaun Salter, said Gourlay's attitude after the tragedy "made it much much worse".

"We have read... your comments on Facebook, in which you laugh and joke about the crash, telling your mates they have got to beat your driving record and make sick jokes about a bad crash in Mexico, saying you could crash better than that in your sleep... and boasting about getting 20 grand for insurance and saying, 'I would do it all again for another 20 grand'," Mr Salter wrote.

"My niece Facebooked you and asked if you were the driver of the van that crashed and killed Jesse and you replied, 'Yeah, ha ha ha', so she went on to ask if you thought it was funny that Jesse had died and you replied again, 'Yeah, ha ha ha'."

Jesse's mother, Justine Howe, wrote that Gourlay's comments on Facebook were "very hurtful" and that she saw the new ute Gourlay had bought as "Jesse's life".

"Aaron spent as much buying his V8 ute as we spent on Jesse's death. $20,000 to bury my son compared to buying a $20,000 ute."

Ms Howe wrote her son's loss - a "cheeky, fun" boy who had plans to travel after his joinery apprenticeship - was made harder when she saw others with teenage children.

"There's no way of healing the pain and every day gets harder as I know Jesse will never be coming home."

Jesse's aunt Tina Holmes held a rose and fought back tears as she read her statement to Gourlay, who sat staring at his feet, sometimes glancing sideways.

Gourlay's lawyer, Max Simpkins, told the court bail conditions had prevented him from contacting Jesse's family, but Gourlay had shown remorse and had broken down in tears while being interviewed and at Jesse's grave.

Judge Phillip Cooper said Jesse's death was the "overwhelming factor" in the case, but said Gourlay's age, earlier guilty plea, prospect of rehabilitation and "previous good record" justified a home detention sentence.

He sentenced Gourlay to six months' home detention and 200 hours' community work, disqualified him from driving for two years and ordered reparation of $5000 to the Howe family and $3000 to the family of a teen involved in the second crash.

Howe family members sobbed and shook their heads in the gallery, one later calling the sentence "an insult". Jesse's grandfather, Dave Howe, said he couldn't believe Gourlay hadn't got a jail sentence and felt "lousy".