KEY POINTS:
A Linton gunner, appallingly injured in a fatal truck crash in the lower North Island a year ago, has been awarded $35,000 from the New Zealand Defence Force for emotional damage.
Michael Chapman, 23, riding unrestrained in the back of an Army Unimog, was thrown from the vehicle when it hit a Foodstuffs truck near Hunterville on February 7, 2006.
He fractured his skull and many bones, punctured a lung and suffered brain swelling that partly paralysed him. The crash almost killed him and he had to be revived at the scene.
Judge Peter Callinicos made the reparation order in Marton District Court where the Defence Force faced sentence for breaching health and safety laws.
The judge noted that while Mr Chapman remained in the Army, his future was severely limited.
He was on light duties, had no chance for promotion and felt as though he was an outsider in his unit, no longer one of the boys.
The Foodstuffs driver, Palmerston North man Shane Ratahi, was killed.
The Unimog driver, Gunner John Francis Eric Penney, who was allegedly asleep at the wheel at the moment of the crash, has pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing death and injury. A hearing date has yet to be set.
Mr Chapman was in court yesterday but declined comment afterwards.
Lieutenant General Jerry Mate-parae, Chief of the Defence Force, last night apologised for what had happened.
"There was no excuse for permitting what occurred to Gunner Chapman," he said.
He added he sincerely regretted the injuries to Gunner Chapman because he was inadequately restrained.
Prosecutor Stephen Ross said in court yesterday that at the time of the accident, the Defence Force had insufficient safety regulations and did not adequately enforce those it did have.
Judge Callinicos said he took note that the Defence Force had since implemented safety procedures to ensure all Unimog occupants were properly restrained. It had also expressed genuine remorse.
Nonetheless, Mr Chapman was in the back of the truck, where there were no seats or restraints. At the same time there was a spare seat with a seatbelt in the Unimog's cabin, between the driver and an officer.
Tracey Ratahi, the dead Foodstuffs driver's wife, attended the hearing and said Mr Chapman deserved the payout.
- NZPA
