Aftermath of an incident at Westfield Mall in Manukau that saw a car drive into a crowd of people.
Video / Supplied
WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT
An intoxicated woman ploughed into pedestrians at a busy mall carpark last year after the break up of her marriage, killing one and injuring six others.
Kartika Singh, 35, was sentenced to jail at the Manukau District Court on Friday afternoon.
The crash at Westfield ManukauCity shopping centre in South Auckland on March 20, 2022 killed Gary Cowley, who died in hospital from his injuries.
Sitting in a wheelchair with one leg in a cast, Cowley’s wife Michelle told the court her last memory before they were hit.
“All I remember was crossing the pedestrian crossing holding [my husband]’s hand, and waking up in agony,” Michelle said, her voice shaking.
It would be 12 days before she saw her husband again, their extensive injuries requiring multiple operations and intensive care that prevented the couple from seeing each other.
Immobilised in hospital, Michelle could not be at his cremation.
“I’m still unable to walk,” she said, and still has no idea when she can go back to work.
“Our lives were turned inside out, I’ve lost my soulmate and partner,” she said.
Cowley’s two children and three other victims, some speaking through their support workers, told the court of their trauma and the lasting impact Singh’s actions have had on their lives.
Judge Richard Earwaker sentenced Singh to four years and six months in prison after discounts for her early guilty plea, remorse and difficult personal circumstances at the time.
Kartika Singh in the dock at her sentencing on March 17, 2023. Photo / NZME
She wrote a letter of apology to the court and wished to say sorry to the victims in person, but her offer was not accepted.
Judge Earwaker said the court did not have psychological reports or much evidence about her mental health, but she was on anti-depressants and had told her doctor of her self-harming and alcohol addiction because of issues with her family.
Singh’s lawyer Rajendra Chaudhry said she grew up impoverished in Fiji and came to New Zealand in 2009.
She has one previous conviction for drink driving in January 2020.
Court documents show Singh was separated from her husband, with whom she has two children.
On March 20, 2022, she started drinking whiskey at 4am before collecting her daughter just after 10am for a parenting visit.
They drove to the park, then went shopping at Westfield Manukau, where an employee noticed Singh having slurred speech, being forgetful and seemingly unaware of her surroundings.
Just before 1pm, the two got back into Singh’s car to head home, and Singh told the girl to text her father.
She drove out of the main carpark, turned left onto the wrong side of the road towards the underground carpark and stopped suddenly to allow pedestrians to cross.
Suddenly, she accelerated towards the metal bollards between a pedestrian walkway and the left side of the road.
The car mounted the curb, flattened the bollards and struck five pedestrians before it hit a large concrete pillar on the front passenger side and came to a stop.
A sixth pedestrian, a teenager, pressed herself against a metal fence to avoid the vehicle but was hit from behind by other pedestrians as they fell.
Tests showed Singh had 300 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood, nearly three times the upper legal limit of 80 at which loss of driving licence occurs.
Gary Cowley suffered profuse bleeding from fractured lower legs and multiple rib fractures. He died in hospital from the multiple blunt-force injuries.
Michelle Cowley suffered a fractured foot, fibula, pelvis and lower back, a laceration to her spleen and a concussion.
The third victim suffered a broken elbow, and the fourth intestinal bruising.
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For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.
