A 23-year-old former advertising industry worker and daughter of a former All Black has today been sentenced to eight months’ home detention following the hit-and-run death of a beloved father and husband last year.
A tearful Helena Cribb - daughter of 15-test All Black Ron Cribb - said she was “so terribly sorry” as she addressed members of Jason Collins’ family directly in the North Shore District Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Jason Collins’ widow Gemma spoke emotionally in court of the devastation at the loss of her 65-year-old husband on a rural North Shore road last December, describing Cribb’s “chilling disregard” for his life.
“You drove away with indifference, you left the scene and left him to die.
“You left him there as if it was nothing. Fleeing from a scene, you wish to forget, knowing that you were drunk and doing everything you could to save yourself. Your car suffered extensive damage, and yet you still did not stop and face up to the magnitude of what you’ve done.”
She said Jason was more than just her husband.
“He was a sanctuary for our three sons and a warm and vibrant, kind soul whose laughter filled our lives. You stripped all that away without a second thought.”
Helena Cribb told police she thought she had hit a pothole as she drove home from a work Christmas function on a dark semi-rural road after a heavy drinking session last December.
In fact, she had fatally struck Jason Collins, dragging him 30m beneath her car, but failed to stop and offer assistance.
In court today, Gemma Collins took offence to her earlier statement. “How dare you call him a pothole.”
Cribb, crying said in court: “I stand here today from a place of deep sorrow, remorse and deep regret. No words can express how sorry I am for this tragic event. I am writing this from a heavy heart knowing nothing I can do will make a difference.”
Not a day had passed when she hadn’t thought of Jason Collins and his family, she said.
She was not in a place to ask for forgiveness, but hoped that one day the family could find some inner peace.
“I am so terribly sorry.”
Judge Paul Murray said Jason Collins’ death was “needless”. The case had some unique factors - including limited lighting, inattention and Jason Collins’ position on or near the road - but Cribb had also failed to stop after drinking heavily during the afternoon.
The victim impact statements were “profoundly sad”. The impacts were immeasurable; the family would never stop missing Jason Collins.
Cribb had no criminal history and was at a low risk of reoffending. He said she had pleaded guilty at one of the earliest opportunities and had expressed profound regret and sorrow. “I accept you are remorseful; it is a concern to you that the victim’s family see otherwise.”
He sentenced her to eight months’ home detention, with eight months’ post-detention conditions.
She was disqualified from holding a driving licence for 18 months and must pay $10,000 in emotional reparations.
The sentence could have no equivalence to the loss of Jason Collins.
Before the hearing began, the court honoured the victim with a minute’s silence.
Gemma Collins said she and her husband had been together for 31 years, and moved to New Zealand from the UK in 2004, for a better life for them and their family.
His death had been “horrific”, and many lives had been shattered.
At nights, the silence was deafening as she lay awake. “I sit on his side of the sofa hoping it might be warm. He was more than a husband, he was a sanctuary for myself and my sons.”
She said Cribb had shown no remorse and the Collins family dreams had been lost to her “reckless hands”.
Gemma Collins also read a statement on behalf of her youngest son Max.
He described his father’s death as the “worst day of my life”.
“Our lives were irreversibly changed,” wrote Max in his statement. “My father was an extraordinary person - he was kind, loving and was always there for us.
“The emotional toll on me is immense...the psychological impact is profound: anger, sadness and helplessness.
“Dad did not deserve to be taken from us in this manner.”
Cribb, he said, had left his father to die on the side of the road.
Helena Cribb pleaded guilty in September to her role in Jason Collins’ death. Before Judge Kathryn Maxwell in the North Shore District Court, Cribb faced two charges following the father of three’s death.
Supporting Cribb in the courtroom then and again today were her former All Black father and his friend and former North Harbour and All Blacks teammate Troy Flavell.
A large group of family and friends of Jason Collins were also in court today. They have described Collins as a “devoted father, husband and trusted friend” and that his death is a “profound and senseless blow”.
Cribb originally faced two charges after the incident: firstly, operating a vehicle carelessly, causing death; and secondly, failing to stop to ascertain whether anyone had been injured.
That first charge was replaced with a new charge when she appeared in court in late June: operating a vehicle carelessly, causing a death while under the influence of drink or a drug, or both, but not so as to commit an offence against section 61 of the Land Transport Act.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment, 12 months’ disqualification of a driver’s licence, and a $10,000 fine.
Cribb’s father Ron Cribb was a No 8 loose forward who played 15 tests for the All Blacks in 2000-2001, scoring a total of four tries. He has also appeared in TV shows Match Fit and Celebrity Treasure Island.
According to the earlier, agreed police summary of facts, Helena Cribb attended her work Christmas celebrations on the afternoon of Thursday, December 7 last year.
She was working for the Dentsu advertising agency at the time.
Over the course of the afternoon, she went to a colleague’s house first, at 1.30pm.
It is understood the work function started from about 3pm, with official transport to a licensed premises. She went to a second licensed premises later in the evening.
She was drinking alcohol through the afternoon and evening.
“Her work colleagues and one of the licensed premises managers described her as ‘drunk’, ‘very highly intoxicated’, ‘slurring her words’ and ‘aggressive’ over the course of that evening,” the summary of facts states.
She returned to her car which was parked in the Auckland CBD, via an Uber that had been organised by a colleague “on the condition that she was going to sleep in her car, charge her phone and was not going to drive”, the summary states.
She was dropped at her car at 11.28pm. She got into the driver’s seat and drove about 24km towards her home address in Lucas Heights, on Auckland’s North Shore.
“The defendant drove along Obrien Rd, Lucas Heights, this is an unlit, two-lane sealed rural road with a posted speed limit of 60km/h, at this time the road was dry and it was dark with no street lighting.”
Her car struck Collins on Obrien Rd.
“The exact position of the victim prior to the collision is not known, scene analysis indicates he was either laying down on the road or laying partially in the road,” the summary states.
Crash scene analysis revealed he was dragged almost 32m.
“Following the collision, the defendant did not stop and continued to her home address.
“The impact with Mr Collins caused extensive damage to the underside of the defendant’s vehicle to the extent that it broke down the following morning.”
Broken pieces of plastic from the car were also recovered from the crash scene.
“The impact caused significant, unsurvivable injuries to Mr Collins,” said the summary of facts.
“In explanation, the defendant stated that she did not know she had hit anyone and momentarily took her eyes off the road to adjust the vehicle’s radio and thought she hit a pothole.”
In September, during a court appearance where she pleaded guilty, Cribb was supported by about 20 people on the right side of the public gallery. Nearly 30 people sat on the left side of the courtroom in respect of Jason Collins.
Cribb’s lawyer Adam Holland told the court in September his client was motivated to meet with the victim’s family and undertake restorative justice.
Holland told Judge Maxwell there was no issue with her entering a conviction following the pleas, meaning she would not be seeking a discharge without conviction. She was then convicted on both charges.
In September, Jason Collins’ widow Gemma told the Herald: “After nearly 10 months of agony, we are relieved to see a guilty plea.
“However, nothing can erase the pain of losing Jason, our beloved husband and father, especially when his life was cruelly dismissed as if he were nothing more than a ‘pothole’.
“This has devastated our family beyond words.”
In an earlier statement, the family said Jason Collins’ death had left “an unfillable void in our hearts”.
They described him as a “devoted father, husband and trusted friend”.
“His absence is a constant ache, a relentless reminder of what we’ve lost,” the family said in their statement, released by police.
“Taken from us too soon, his departure is a profound and senseless blow that we struggle to comprehend.
“Each day is a battle against the overwhelming emptiness left in his wake.”
Outside the courtroom in September, one of Collins’ three sons, Max, teared up as he described his father as a great man.
“I looked up to him,” he told the Herald.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.
The woman was shaken by the incident.