KEY POINTS:
A Japanese tourist must pay $10,000 to the family of the friend who was killed when she rolled a car on the Mt Cook road last week.
Yoriko Nishio was to make the payment immediately after her sentencing in Christchurch District Court yesterday on a charge of careless driving causing death.
Nishio, 40, is a public servant whose address is given as Akusa, Hyogo, Japan. She is due to fly back to Japan tomorrow.
Judge Noel Walsh ordered her to pay the money as emotional harm reparations to the family of Kenzo Hasegawa, who has three adult children. His wife has already returned to Japan with his body.
Nishio pleaded guilty on Wednesday and had been remanded for sentencing yesterday so that an emotional harm reparation report could be prepared.
Defence counsel Michael Starling said police accepted there had been "a low level of carelessness" in the accident on January 2.
Nishio was concerned about the loss of her good friend, whom she had known for five years.
They had travelled the world with small trekking groups and went trekking in the South Island this summer.
Nishio was driving at 50 to 60km/h when she lost control in shingle and the car rolled once over a large rock.
While people in the front seat were uninjured, Mr Hasegawa was badly hurt and died on the way to hospital.
Apart from the $10,000 payment, Nishio was disqualified from driving for a year.
Outside the court, she said through her lawyer that she was very distressed about the loss of her friend. She would maintain contact with Mr Hasegawa's wife and family.
- NZPA
