Now, more than 40 years on, Napier was back in court in relation to killing somebody with a vehicle.
He was sentenced yesterday on a charge of driving at a dangerous speed causing the death of 28-year-old Waikato University student Shiqing Li after hitting her with his Ford ute as she tried to cross Boundary Rd around 6pm on March 30, 2022.
Napier, of Waiuku but currently living in Huntly, had defended the charge for more than two years but pleaded guilty in April this year.
He appeared for sentence before Judge Glen Marshall in the Hamilton District Court where he heard Li’s grief-stricken parents had lost their only child.
The parents had since given up their respective jobs as a human resources consultant and a police officer due to the impact of their loss.
‘She was our light’
In her victim impact statement read to the court, Li’s mother, Liping Zhang, said losing their only child was also the “loss of the family dynasty”.
Both parents had invested their lives into Li so she could get a good education. They had watched her grow into a “capable, happy, young woman”.
“She had already achieved so much in her 28 years but had so much more to look forward to.
“We were so proud of her. She was our light.
“We knew that she would have had a bright future ahead of her but her future was stolen.”
She said their future was now bleak as they no longer had a child to care for them when they got older.
“In my [Chinese] culture your child and your work are your identity.
“I have lost both therefore I am less in my eyes and of others,” she said.
“I miss Shi. I see the pain that her father bears and it’s my pain too.”
‘Thrown 24 metres into the air’
Video footage obtained by police showed 61-year-old Napier travelling closely behind a Suzuki Swift as he drove onto the Boundary Rd bridge from Victoria St.
He then accelerated to overtake the car, using the left lane, and then quickly changed back into the right-hand lane to get in front of the Swift.
As Napier sped across the bridge, Li was trying to cross the eastbound lanes towards a pedestrian island in the middle of the road.
After successfully crossing the first lane, she was suddenly struck by Napier’s ute in the second lane.
The impact saw her body thrown for 24 metres.
‘Absolutely no winners in this’
Counsel Shayne Lawrey said his client “very much accepted” the effect his actions had on Li’s family and was grateful to be able to apologise to Zhang “face to face” at his first court appearance in 2022.
“In offending like this there are absolutely no winners. Mr Napier has been heavily affected by this.
“Speaking openly [to me] today, he still has flashbacks to the event and is working personally on that, Sir,” he told Judge Marshall.
Napier was someone who had made “drastic changes in his life” since his younger days and he did not want to put the victim’s family through a trial.
He urged Judge Marshall to step back from prison and hand down a home detention sentence.
“Mr Napier says he has not driven since that day and is highly likely not to get behind the wheel again.”
‘There needs to be recognition’
Judge Marshall noted Napier had “a number” of previous driving convictions including drink driving but most notably one for vehicular manslaughter.
“I think there does need to be recognition for Mr Napier’s prior convictions, although today, Mr Napier would be well aware having been through this experience once before and having any number of driving convictions subsequently to that, that driving such as this can lead to serious injury or death.”
After taking a start point of three years and two months, the judge applied 30% credit for his guilty plea, remorse, and medical issues, before landing on an end sentence of two years and three months in jail.
Napier was also disqualified from driving for three years.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.
