Rotorua Lakes Council election candidate Jared Adams addresses fatal 2013 crash

Rotorua political candidate Jared Adams describes the fatal road crash 12 years ago as an "absolute tragedy". Photo / Laura Smith

Rotorua election candidate Jared Adams says causing a great-grandmother’s death in a crash 12 years ago will always weigh on him.

Local Democracy Reporting asked Adams about the case after he confirmed he was seeking election to the Rotorua Lakes Council.

The crash happened about 6.30am on April 16, 2013, at the intersection of Ranolf and Amohau Sts.

Anna Rose Lea, 72, was riding her moped home in the rain after working a night shift at the Sealed Air packaging factory on Te Ngae Rd.

Adams made an illegal right turn on a red arrow when the main lights turned green and hit Lea, who had the right of way, with his vehicle.

Lea died at the scene.

Speaking about the “absolute tragedy”, Adams said he remembered the incident “like it was yesterday”.

“It was one of those stupid, silly mistakes anyone could make and tragically, the consequences in my case were massive.

“It is something that will weigh on me for the rest of my life.”

Adams admitted the offence from the outset, pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated careless driving causing death.

The judge blamed the incident on Adams being “inattentive” and said he should have seen the victim.

Adams, at the age of 28, was sentenced to four months’ home detention, ordered to do 150 hours of community work and disqualified from driving for 14 months.

He also paid $5000 in reparations to Lea’s family and underwent restorative justice.

Jared Adams at his sentencing in 2013.

“That was a very tough situation to be in,” Adams said of the restorative justice process, which involves the offender and the victim’s family meeting with the aim of repairing harm caused by a crime.

“But it was a cathartic experience, and it just showed the humanness of everyone in the room.”

Victim-impact statements provided in court in November 2013 described Lea as “close to a saint” and her family’s “matriarch”, and “rock”.

Several of her family members live in Rotorua.

A family spokesperson said they were unaware Adams was running for council. They did not wish to comment further.

Adams said he had tried to move on from the incident and would rather not revisit it out of respect for Lea’s family.

However, increased “transparency” was a key change he hoped to bring if elected as one of six representatives for Rotorua’s general ward this year.

Rotorua Lakes Council candidate Jared Adams.

He said for this reason, he was willing to discuss the matter if people approached him, and had reached out to others involved in similar incidents to offer support and advice.

Adams, who used to own Rotorua Top 10 Holiday Park, said he had been a regular in council chambers for more than 10 years.

Adams highlighted dog control, improved communication and public feedback, keeping rates down and seeing Rotorua return to pre-Covid tourism levels as issues high on his agenda if elected.

Election candidates in New Zealand must be aged over 18, be a New Zealand citizen and pay a $200 deposit.

A criminal record does not disqualify someone from running, and there is no obligation to share that information when submitting a nomination.

• A line in this story has been updated to make clear Adams was owner of the holiday park, and said he had attended council meetings for more than 10 years, not just since 2023 as reported.

Mathew Nash is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based at the Rotorua Daily Post. He has previously written for SunLive, been a regular contributor to RNZ and was a football reporter in Britain for eight years.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.