Tauriko crash victim named as Aucklander Robert MacGibbon

Police have published the names of three people who died in crashes over recent months. Photo / Bevan Conley

Aucklander Robert William Norman MacGibbon has today been named by police as the victim of a fatal crash in Tauranga in May.

A police statement said the two-vehicle crash happened on Taurikura Drive, Tauriko, on May 9.

MacGibbon was 88, and police previously told the Bay of Plenty Times he died in Tauranga Hospital three days after his car hit a tree near the BP Lakes petrol station.

“Police extend our condolences to his family and friends during this time. Inquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing,” today’s statement said.

MacGibbon was among the five road deaths in the Western Bay of Plenty police district this year.

Police today also named Karen Jennifer King, 77, from Cambridge, as the victim of a June 7 crash on the Desert Rd, and Semisi He, 48, of Waitoa, was killed in a June 13 crash in Te Aroha.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.