Prosecution over toddler's driveway death 'pointless' - lawyer

Police at the scene where the toddler was run over by a driver. Photo / Daniel Hines

An Auckland man has escaped any penalty after accidentally killing his 2-year-old son in a driveway - the third such case of its type in the last eight months.

Preventive Aido Ikimanahetau Feleti, 35, was discharged without conviction in Manukau District Court last week after being charged with careless driving causing death in September last year.

Te Manawa Whetuki Renata, known as Whetuki, suffered critical injuries when he was hit by a vehicle reversing up his Papatoetoe driveway on the evening of April 9, 2014.

Feleti's lawyer Karen Harding said the prosecution seemed "pointless".

"I believe he would very likely be found not guilty at a defended hearing but that would have involved his family and the mother being cross examined and cause them all a lot of emotional harm," she said.

The boy's mother Emma Renata rushed him to Middlemore Hospital in her car but the boy was pronounced dead half an hour later.

It is believed Whetuki was running out to meet his father and Ms Harding said there was no way her client could have seen him because he was shorter than the height of the boot, was wearing dark clothes and it was twilight.

Police have routinely charged mourning parents over cases like Feleti's and two similar incidents that came before the court in the last year have produced identical outcomes.

George Puturangi Mahanga, 57, appeared at Manukau District Court after killing his great-nephew 18-month-old Kronos Kaitaki Grosney in a south Auckland driveway last year.

The case sparked passionate outbursts in court with the baby's father Matthew Woller attempting to jump into the dock with the defendant during one hearing.

"They've got the wrong guy," he told the judge.

Mahanga was sentenced by Judge Phillip Recordon in March and was also discharged without conviction.

Five months earlier Pokeno man Manu Gus Rhind, 37, left Pukekohe District Court without penalty as well, after admitting to causing the death of his 5-year-old son Tawhiti Jack Barlow-Rhind.

The incident took place on the afternoon of April 22 last year while Rhind drove his Ford Ranger with a trailer carrying a 1.5 tonne, unsecured digger up and down the driveway of an empty section on McGill Rd to level the metal surface.

According to court documents, Rhind drove slowly with Tawhiti and another son Ruebyn Barlow-Rhind on the trailer with the digger.

At one stage, he moved forward which jolted the 5-year-old off the trailer and under its wheels.

Tawhiti could not be revived by emergency services and died from his injuries at the scene.

Police defended their decision to charge even when the outcome in court seemed inevitable.

"While we recognise these are tragic and difficult events, we must investigate objectively, fairly, and thoroughly in the interests of justice, the victims and their families," Police prosecutions national manager Mike Johnson said.

"While we are very mindful of the sensitivities around these tragic cases, the appropriate decision on any outcome from the perspective of the law must always be made by the courts."

Mr Johnson said the police measured each set of circumstances against the Solicitor General's prosecutions guidelines.

Lobby group Safekids Aotearoa would not comment on how driveway deaths were handled by the police or courts but stressed that on average two children were injured every week and five a year were killed by vehicles on private driveways.