Keyana Beazley, 19, was killed in a fatal accident in Canterbury.
A Christchurch teen has been granted a discharge without conviction after admitting responsibility for the crash that killed 19-year-old Keyana Smith-Beazley and seriously injured a couple and their young children.
And he has been granted permanent name suppression.
The 19-year-old appeared in the Christchurch District Court yesterday before Judge Katie Elkin.
The two-car crash happened at the intersection of Homebush Rd, Bridge St and Malvern Hills Rd on October 14 - election day - last year.
Beazley, from Waimā in Northland, was in the front seat of the then-18-year-old’s car.
He failed to give way at the intersection and she - not wearing a seatbelt - was thrown from the car and sustained critical injuries.
She died in Christchurch Hospital the next morning.
Four others - a couple and their young children - were seriously injured.
The young driver did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system. He was not using his phone. He was not speeding.
He did not sleep much the night before and Judge Elkin said it was likely fatigue was behind his fatal driving decision.
The teen was charged with careless driving causing the death of Smith-Beazley and four counts of careless driving causing injury.
He pleaded guilty to all charges very early in proceedings.
Judge Elkin began sentencing by acknowledging Smith-Beazley’s family who were in court.
“Your lives have been forever changed by this. Thank you for your presence with us here today in the midst of your grief,” she said.
“There are no words of comfort to address what I imagine you have been through and are still going through.”
She also acknowledged the other victims.
“You have walked a difficult path since this event too,” she said.
“Your lives have been marked forever by what happened.”
Judge Elkin also addressed the driver, supported in court by his parents, sister and other family.
“You’re here today in very difficult circumstances. They are circumstances that are also challenging and for you - and for your family and friends as well.”
A victim impact statement from Smith-Beazley’s mother was then read to the court.
Her name cannot be published.
“I understand this could happen to anyone… I forgive (the driver) and I hope he forgives himself,” she said.
“I do not wish imprisonment on (the driver). I hope and pray for nothing but compassion towards him as he is a young boy who, in a split second, had his world turned upside down.
“I hope (the driver) picks himself up and lives a full life full of great things, that he doesn’t fall into depression because of this.
“We have already lost the young so we don’t need to lose another.”
Smith-Beazley’s mother told the court she was “a beautiful, outgoing, not shy, centre of attention, loving, caring, and forgiving young lady”.
“She would have forgiven (the driver),” she said.
“This is hard and very emotional for me to write, but I do write this in support of (him). I hope one day to meet him.”
The couple injured in the crash both prepared statements. Their names cannot be published.
“The crash wasn’t my fault. Let’s not call it an accident because you drove into my car,” said the man, becoming emotional.
“My wife, children and dog were in the car - the most important things in my life.
“It wasn’t my fault and its my life that’s changed.”
He said he suffered flashbacks of the crash most days - memories of being trapped in the car waiting for emergency services.
He and his family had to be cut out of the wreckage.
“You can’t see from the outside, the mental chaos,” the man said.
“I wasn’t given a chance to protect my family… I can’t stop looking for danger. I’m on the edge and my body feels it.
“I feel shattered, weak, angry. The flow from anger towards the driver is to worry about him and his family and think about the family of the young lady that died.”
The man said he used to be social and enjoy being around people. Due to his injuries the trauma he said: “I’m only part of myself”.
“Sometimes I don’t feel mentally able to talk to other people… I haven’t been able to work my normal hours.
“I didn’t ask for this. I wasn’t given a choice and neither were my children.
“I still see them in my flashbacks, scared and hurt.”
He said his children were “over alert and anxious, especially in the car”.
“My daughter becomes emotional if she sees damaged, crashed cars,” he said.
“My son is always on the lookout.
“The list goes on and yet - I don’t want this young man’s life ruined from this accident.
“I want him to give back to society in some way.”
The man then read his wife’s statement.
She said the crash would stay in her memory forever.
“I was chatting to my daughter. We were laughing, when suddenly our car was hit… I heard a loud bang and then we rolled,” she recalled.
She was in shock - shaking and unable to breathe properly.
“My son cried and kept saying it was a bad dream. My daughter wasn’t talking… (the dog) put (its) paws up on the outside of the car where I was sitting. I still don’t know if she was thrown out of the windscreen or jumped out once the car stopped rolling.”
The woman also had flashbacks and was anxious. She constantly worried about her husband and kids.
“I prefer to stay at home where I feel safe,” she said.
“I’m easily overwhelmed and get emotional for the first time… there are some nights where I wake up and worry about things that I can’t control. It takes a couple of hours to calm myself and go back to sleep.
“I just want to forget that the crash happened.
“I want things to go back to normal how they were before the crash. I don’t want to feel scared and anxious.
“I want my husband to enjoy life again… I hope at some point that he will be able to put the crash behind him and not have flashbacks anymore.”
Judge Elkin thanked the victims for being “generous and gracious”.
She heard extensive submissions from police prosecutor Chris McFarlin and the teen’s lawyer Kerry Cook.
Cook applied for a discharge without conviction and permanent name suppression saying, in short, a conviction and having his name published would cause him extreme and ongoing hardship.
Police opposed both applications.
“Extreme hardship has not been made out,” said McFarlin reading the discharge.
“The reasons for suppression that have been submitted by counsel do not outweigh the principle of open justice.”
Cook detailed - at length - the ways the teen’s life would be unfairly impacted if he was convicted and named publicly.
“He is sorry,” said Cook.
“(He) accepts that this was his fault. (He) is to blame and (he) is responsible. No one else carries the blame but him - and it’s a burden he will carry for the rest of his life... and he asks for forgiveness in the future.
He said the teen fronted at two restorative justice conferences and spoke to the victims and Smith-Beazley’s family.
He told the couple:
“It was all my fault. I want to apologise for all the harm they suffered. I take the whole tragedy extremely seriously.”
He told Smith-Beazley’s family:
“I’m so sorry for what you suffered. I wish you never had to deal with what I’ve done to you.”
Cook told the court the driver had completed about 20 hours of voluntary work and an advanced driving course since the crash.
He was able to pay an amount of reparation to both families and had taken out a personal loan so he could do so immediately.
Judge Elkin said the teen’s remorse was “genuine and heartfelt”.
“You say... you wish you could change what happened. You say you never meant for it to happen and how incredibly sorry you are,” she said.
“But the harm is so tragically catastrophic.”
After considering all of the information provided to her, Judge Elkin granted both applications.
“Generally for a young person... a conviction... can put them at a disadvantage when applying for loans, insurance, accommodation, as well as travel and deployment,” she said.
“It may also have a particularly strong impact on the sense of self for a young person... The transition to adulthood can be significantly prejudiced by a conviction and society has a strong interest in young lives not being derailed in this way due to a single instance of shortcoming, even where it has had tragic consequences.
“In my view, it’s those general consequences of a conviction which among other things include general aspects of future employment and travel that are the things that loom large for you going forward.
“I have no doubt that they would have a serious impact given your current age and stage of life.
“Of course, the consequences of what occurred as a result of the crash cannot be overstated. They are truly devastating.”
The court heard Smith-Beazley’s family supported the applications.
“They don’t want you to be hampered in moving forward with your life in a positive way,” she said.
“The (injured couple) also say that they do not want your life destroyed - but consider there should be consequences. What they want is to see you contributing positively to society.”
She said she was satisfied “by a fine margin” that if the teen was convicted, the direct and indirect consequences ”would be out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending”.
“Your application for a discharge without conviction is granted, that does not mean you get to walk away without consequence,” she said.
“This will be with you forever. You know that and I know that.”
She said not granting permanent name suppression would “undermine the effectiveness of the discharge”.
“I am satisfied that publication would be likely to cause extreme hardship to (the teen) both in terms of his employment prospects and also his life.
“Publication itself would likely have some of the impacts that the discharge without conviction is designed to avoid.”
Judge Elkin also disqualified the teen from driving for six months and ordered him to pay $8000 to each family.
“Again, I extend my deepest condolences on behalf of the court to each of you who has been impacted by this tragedy,” she said.
“No sentence I can pass and nothing I can say can undo what has occurred.”
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz