Jason Tuitama is in prison after killing Casidhe Maguire in a hit-and-run.
Jason Tuitama is in prison after killing Casidhe Maguire in a hit-and-run.
A Wellington rugby club has lost its liquor licence after a patron’s drunk driving killed a young mum.
Jason Tuitama was jailed for four years and four months for manslaughter after the hit and run, which also seriously injured another pedestrian.
Casidhe Maguire’s father said the club and others were responsible for his daughter’s death.
A Wellington rugby club has lost its liquor licence after one of its patrons got drunk on site and went on to crash his car into two pedestrians, killing a young mum.
He was four times over the drink-driving limit and had previously been banned several times from driving when he ploughed through a red light and hit two pedestrians at a crossing in the early hours of June 18 last year.
Casidhe’s father, Paul Maguire earlier said Tuitama and the Johnsonville Rugby Club he was drinking at before the fatal crash, were “collectively responsible” for his daughter’s death.
He fought against the renewal of the club’s licence in a District Licencing Committee hearing that stretched over several months last year.
The Johnsonville Rugby Football Club at Helston Park. Photo / Mark Mitchell
In a statement given at the hearing, he explained they had been attending a family wedding in Wellington on the night of June 17 for Casidhe’s uncle.
“At the end of the night, Casidhe said she just wanted to go home to her baby, and left with her partner to catch a taxi. That was the last time we saw her alive. About 15 minutes later she was dead, killed by Tuitama heading into town after a night of heavy drinking at the Johnsonville Rugby Club,” Maguire told the committee.
“Casidhe was only 28. Her death has had a profound effect on so many people. I’m sure you can all imagine the horrific effect of losing your daughter, partner [or] sister in these circumstances, and of course her baby son, with no mother at just 13 months old.”
While Tuitama had pleaded guilty, Maguire said he wanted to focus on the club’s involvement, “and then hopefully I can move on from this nightmare”.
He said alcohol was not being served responsibly that night.
“The team members sitting around Tuitama who were plying him with alcohol are responsible. The club executives on duty that night are responsible.
“The ... bar managers on duty are responsible. Everyone who saw Tuitama heavily intoxicated and did nothing are responsible.”
Cass Maguire died several weeks after being critically injured in a hit-and-run on Cable St, Wellington.
Today the Wellington District Licensing Committee released its decision, concluding that renewing the club’s licence would not meet the object of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act.
“Based on the evidence available, the committee is not satisfied that JFRC [Johnsonville Rugby Football Club] has understood and accepted the need to comply with the act and the club licence at all times,” it wrote in its decision.
“We are not confident this applicant will sell and supply alcohol safely and responsibly.”
The club’s existing licence will end on June 4, 2025.
Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.
