Lions fan fined for fatal crash

Liz Neels

The Welsh rugby fan who killed a young Waikato woman when his campervan smashed into her oncoming car has been ordered to pay almost $10,000 in fines and reparation.

James Berry, 23, had previously pleaded guilty to careless driving causing injury and careless driving causing the death of 18-year-old Cambridge woman Liz Neels.

This morning in the Hamilton District Court he stood looking scared and vulnerable as he was handed down a $500 fine, plus costs, for the injury charge.

Judge Anne McAloon said she took into account that Berry had been held in custody for three days after the June 23 crash and the volunteer work he had been doing since his initial court appearance. 

The accounting graduate from Swansea had come to New Zealand to follow the Lions tour but had not seen any of the games.

The judge ordered him to pay $9000 in reparation to the Neels family on the causing death charge. Berry's mother was in the court for the sentencing, and cried throughout the proceedings.

Liz Neels' father Michael told the court he thought more statistics needed to be kept on the number of accidents caused by tired drivers.

Mr Neels and his wife, Lori, said before the sentencing that they did not want to see Berry jailed or "financially crippled with some huge fine".

But if Berry was to be released with no more than a "bad luck, my boy - hope you learned something by all this", then the wrong message would be going out, said Mr Neels.

"None of our hopes and concerns for her future have any further meaning," Mr Neels wrote in his victim impact report to go before the judge.

The clear message was that it was not acceptable to drive when tired, he said.

Berry had arrived from Britain with two friends mid-morning on June 23. After a break at his sister's house in Auckland, they left about 4pm, intending to stop for the night at 10pm and catch the interisland ferry from Wellington the next day to get to Christchurch for the first Lions versus All Blacks test.

About 7.40pm, the campervan crossed the centre line on State Highway 1, near Karapiro, slamming into a car driven by Liz Neels, a student chef.

After initial reluctance to meet Berry at a restorative justice conference, a deeply grieving Mr and Mrs Neels came to think of him as a victim too, "just in a completely different tragedy, connected only by Liz".

They thought they should take the opportunity before Berry returned to Wales. "We're glad we did."

Mr Neels doubted they could have faced him had he been a "boy-racer or a drunk driver" instead of an intelligent, sensitive young man with a promising future.

A nephew and Liz's two best friends accompanied the couple to the voluntary meeting, run by facilitators. Berry came alone.

"I have never seen a person so contrite as James when he walked into the conference room to meet us. Words were not needed to express how sorry he was for what had happened," said Mr Neels.

Berry expressed a wish to meet the Neels, appeared remorseful and even sent a card.

"It seemed that, in falling asleep [at the wheel], he had made a very human mistake with devastating consequences," Mr Neels said.

The Neels said they wanted Berry to live a good life, both for himself and for Liz, and not carry her in his memory as a burden, rather "letting our Lizzie rest lightly on his soul".

No further communication was planned, said Mr Neels. "But if he wants to contact us in five years' time and let us know how he is doing, what his wife is like, I daresay we will show interest."

Letter written from the heart

I cannot find it in my heart to personally wish James Berry harm. His being asleep at the time is almost as if he had diminished responsibility in Liz's death. Perhaps his crime was to be asleep in charge of a moving vehicle?

He made a pathetically human mistake with devastating consequence. He appears to be a victim in a completely different tragedy - connected only by Liz. I hear he is an intelligent and sensitive young man with a promising future.

He has made all the right moves to date in pleading guilty, appearing remorseful, asking to contact us and finally confronting us at the restorative justice meeting in Cambridge.

... why should someone in this situation walk free with no more than a "bad luck young man - hope you learned something by all this?" What sort of message would that send to our driving public? Just how expensive do the lessons we give have to be?

I would not like to see James Berry sent to jail, or saddled with some enormous debt for the rest of his working life. No amount of money coming from him would be acceptable to us. - An extract from a letter by Michael Neels on the eve of James Berry's sentencing.

- NZ Herald