Lionel Allan hit-and-run: Boss pleads guilty to careless driving causing death of worker

Former child star Lionel Allan died after he was hit by a vehicle driven by his boss, in West Auckland. Photo / Supplied

In a brief but emotional court hearing, the driver of a truck that hit Kiwi child star Lionel “Doeboy” Allan has admitted causing his death.

Allan’s boss Wiremu Gray struck the 39-year-old former actor as he was walking on a West Auckland road in September 2022, killing him on the spot.

Gray, 42, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death in the Waitākere District Court on Wednesday, meaning the case will not go to trial.

At a December hearing, he had already admitted another charge of failing to stop after the crash.

Judge Kirsten Lummis said a sentence of home detention was likely as with similar cases: “And there are similar cases, sadly,” she said to Gray.

Standing impassive in the dock wearing a dark suit, Gray sought a restorative justice meeting with the victims through his lawyer Emma Priest.

A number of Allan’s family and friends shook their heads from the public gallery, some wearing T-shirts with his name and picture.

Allan’s wife wiped away tears.

Wiremu Gray at a court hearing in December 2022. Photo / George Block

Judge Lummis acknowledged the difficulty of the proceedings for them and said the court could explain to them how restorative justice worked.

“No, no one is interested,” a woman said, identifying herself as a friend of the family.

“His name is Lionel,” the same woman said at the end of the hearing, glaring at Gray as he was escorted out of the courtroom by security officers.

“Jail, mandatory,” she said to the court.

“He took someone’s life.”

Gray was remanded on bail until his sentencing hearing in July.

He did not stop

According to the summary of facts, Gray was Allan’s boss.

The two were socialising together with other colleagues at their Henderson workplace on September 30, last year.

Allan left about 7.30pm and was walking along The Concourse wearing a high-visibility vest when he was struck by Gray’s truck at speed.

The impact knocked Allan backward onto the footpath. He suffered traumatic injuries to his upper body and head and died at the scene.

“The defendant did not stop to give assistance to the victim and drove to his home on the North Shore,” the summary stated.

Gray turned himself in at the Henderson police station the following afternoon.

Allan, known as Lionel Wickcliffe or Doeboy during his acting days, appeared in the teen drama Being Eve in the early 2000s.

He later became a 501 deportee and had convictions in New Zealand for burglary and theft, but had turned his life around before his death, according to a family friend who spoke to Herald.