The man who ploughed his car into police during New Year’s celebrations in Nelson, killing Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming, has been found guilty of her murder.
A jury has also found Hayden Tasker, 33, guilty of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay.
Tasker has been on trial in the High Court at Christchurch before Justice Cameron Mander and a jury for the past three weeks.
While he accepted he was driving the car that killed Fleming and injured Ramsay, he denied the charges against him.
He said he was “not guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter” in relation to Fleming.
The jury retired at 12.22pm today, after Justice Mander summed up the case and instructed them on their duties, to begin deliberating.
Three-and-a-half hours later they advised they had reached a verdict.
Tasker showed no emotion when the jury’s unanimous verdicts were read.
As he was convicted by Justice Mander, members of Fleming’s family – seated in the public gallery – cried.
Tasker will be sentenced in July.
Senior Sergeants Ramsay and Fleming were on foot patrol just after 2am when Tasker drove at them in his white Honda Odyssey.
Ramsay was thrown 8m and suffered serious injuries, including a dislocated shoulder, a badly gashed head – so bad you could see through to the skull – as well as cuts and severe abrasions to other parts of his body.
Fleming was thrown 20m and was fatally injured.
She sustained catastrophic injuries but was resuscitated at the scene before being rushed to Nelson Hospital and placed on life support, until her family could gather at her side to say goodbye.
She died minutes after life support was turned off.
Tasker was later charged with murdering Fleming and injuring Ramsey with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is also facing charges of injuring a number of other police officers and civilians.
At the start of the trial, Crown Solicitor Mark O’Donoghue outlined the case against Tasker.
He told the jury Tasker was angry at the police and after “ruminating and brooding” he drove his car deliberately at the officers.
“To use his own words, he ‘f*****g planted it’,” he said.
“The defendant, accelerating as hard as he could, drove straight into them … He made no attempt to brake. He made no attempt to avoid the two officers."
“To summarise, he admitted to seeing the two officers, to accelerating as hard as he could, to getting a decent run–up and driving into the two officers.
“And at the critical moment, the moment he did it, he admitted to being motivated by anger towards the police ... The Crown says this was no accident, no mistake, no manslaughter.”
Defence lawyer Josh Lucas said Tasker “accepts” he was driving and was responsible for Fleming’s death and the injuries sustained by Ramsay and others.
But he did not intend to kill or seriously harm anyone.
“Mr Tasker made a failed suicide attempt that night by way of an intended police chase, which sadly went wrong from the moment it started,” Lucas said.
“He is guilty of manslaughter but not of murder. The difference between the two of them in this case is intent.
“The defence says that Mr Tasker lacked the intent for murder.”
Lucas said it was important to note that what happened to Fleming and Ramsay was “a tragedy”.
“It should not have happened. But unfortunately, it did. And no one, especially not Mr Tasker, is shying away from those facts,” he said.
“He regrets what happened. He’s sorry for the loss and harm he caused. As he said to the police when interviewed: ‘It should have been me that died that night. No one else’.”
Lucas said Tasker also told police he was “going to have to live with the consequences of actions, namely someone being killed for the rest of his life”.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers acknowledged today’s verdict, saying Fleming’s death was still “raw for all”.
“This should never have happened at all,” he said.
“Lyn, and those with her that night, were targeted solely because of the uniform they wore.
“I hope we never again have to go through the tragedy of losing a colleague.”
Chambers said he was proud of his colleagues for the way they supported each other through the crisis.
He also paid tribute to Fleming’s family.
“They supported Lyn through 38 years and seven months of service,” he said.
“I hope they have drawn some comfort from the obvious love and respect shown for Lyn by her colleagues and the community she was so dedicated to.
“She paid the ultimate sacrifice and that must never be forgotten.”
Tasman District commander Superintendent Tracey Thompson said the decision would bring closure and healing.
“However, it will never bring Lyn back or erase the traumatic events of that night from our minds,” she said.
“The events that night will never leave us, but also, they will never overshadow the wonderful memories Lyn gave us.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell said the verdict brought a “profound sense of relief”.
“I know the country has been trying to share and carry that pain with you, but you are really the only ones that understand what you’ve had to go through,” he said to Fleming’s family.
Fleming’s sister Jo Brown addressed the media after the verdict, supported by her brother Woody Fleming.
“The manner in which Lyn died was nothing short of barbaric,” Brown said.
“We were woken up New Year’s Day to the most heartbreaking news any family could receive.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be a happy ending, but we cannot thank the first responders and hospital staff enough.
“We know how hard you battled to keep Lyn alive, so we could say goodbye.”
Brown acknowledged the passing of her “darling dad” in February.
“For the last year of his life, he was heartbroken after losing his second-born daughter,” she said.
“I promised my dad I would carry the torch and attend court every day on his behalf.
“I fulfilled my promise to you dad and we got the result you so desperately wanted.”
Fleming’s son, Aren Olsen, described January 1, 2025 as “the hardest day our family has ever had to live through”.
“The second hardest day has been every day since then.”
“For all of the members of the public that leapt into action to do everything they could to save her, to the first responders, to the members of the police team that did everything that they could both to contain the situation and since then to hold the person that did it responsible – we thank you.”
“I don’t think I can honestly say that we have seen justice,” Olsen continued.
“But today we have seen accountability, and for that we are eternally grateful to the prosecution team, to everybody that did everything they could to get us the result that we’ve seen today.”
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast, A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz