Jail for Northland man Michael Waiomio who killed mate in NY Eve crash

The unwarranted and unregistered car rolled and threw unrestrained Shane Harema onto the footpath on Kyte St on the last day of last year. Photo / File

Michael Waiomio has been jailed but the biggest issue the 23-year-old will have to grapple with while serving time is that he killed a mate.

The death could simply have been avoided if he hadn't been speeding at 80km/h on Keyte St, in Whangārei, which has a maximum speed of 50km/h.

It might have also helped had he not been distracted by looking in the rear vision mirror and talking to his 20-year-old back-seat passenger and mate Shane Harema, who was not buckled in.

Waiomio, who had never held a driver's licence, lost control at the roundabout, causing the car to hit the curb, roll and slam through a garden fence about 10.30am last New Year's Eve.

Harema was thrown through a window of the car, which was neither warranted nor registered, on to the footpath. He suffered serious head injuries and died in hospital the same day.

The tragic details of the crash were revealed during sentencing at the Whangarei District Court yesterday after earlier guilty pleas by Waiomio, of Kamo, to dangerous driving causing death and one of male assaults female.

Harema's father, Shane Harema senior, stood in the court and addressed Waiomio, who stood in the dock with his head bowed.

He said he rushed to his son's hospital bed when he got the news. Looking at his son, he knew there was nothing that could be done to save him.

"They told me he had five hours left."

Harema snr said he went to Waiomio's house and took him to hospital to see his son.

"He was at home playing his space invaders while my son was dying in hospital."

Harema snr, who said he was head of the Mongrel Mob, hoped the judge would impose a sentence that would make Waiomio learn so that he would not kill anyone else.

"I can't imagine what you are feeling and won't pretend to," Judge Greg Davis said to Harema snr.

Turning to Waiomio, Judge Davis said: "You should never have been driving on that day."

However, after reading a letter Waiomio he had written, the judge accepted Waiomio was genuinely remorseful.

After Judge Davis considered submissions from Crown prosecutor Catherine Anderson and defence lawyer Kelly Ellis, he sentenced Waiomio to two years and 10 months jail for dangerous driving causing death and one month for assaulting a female, to be served concurrently.