Tributes paid to dead teen

By ELIZABETH BINNING

Bouquets of red roses, yellow gerberas and white iris mark the spot where Hamilton teenager Nicholas Derek Smith was killed at the weekend.

The 17-year-old was one of nine people crammed inside a modified Holden Berlina which crashed into a power pole early on Saturday.

Minutes earlier police had tried to stop the heavily loaded car, which they say was driving erratically and at up to 100km/h.

The driver, an unemployed 18-year-old, is due to appear in the Hamilton District Court today.

He faces seven charges, including manslaughter, dangerous driving and failing to stop for police.

Police say further charges could be laid.

The fatal accident happened just after midnight on the corner of Morrinsville and Morris Rds in Hillcrest.

It is believed the nine young people, none of whom was wearing a seatbelt, were on their way home from a party.

Morris Rd residents say they were woken by a loud bang and a buzzing sound as the power pole crashed down on the car, cutting electricity to about 600 homes.

When police and ambulance officers arrived moments later they found the front of the car badly damaged, the windscreen smashed and Nicholas Smith, one of four people in the front seat, dead.

His 16-year-old girlfriend lay unconscious nearby with a broken pelvis, broken arms and legs and head injuries.

She was taken to Waikato Hospital, where she remains in a serious condition in intensive care.

Five other passengers were also taken to hospital, and treated for minor injuries.

The driver left the scene before help arrived, but turned himself in to police later in the day, accompanied by his mother.

A full investigation into the events leading up to the crash is now under way by both police and the Police Complaints Authority.

Waikato police spokeswoman Kris McGehan said police spent the weekend talking to the surviving passengers, many of whom are students at Hillcrest High School.

The school's principal, Kelvin Whiting, said support services would be made available to students affected by the accident.

Police said the car had been modified and a bald rear tyre indicated it might have been doing "burnouts" before the accident.

Alcohol was found inside the car.

By yesterday all power had been restored to homes in Hamilton East and the damaged pole fixed.

However, several bunches of flowers, tyre marks in the grass verge and orange spraypaint marked the scene of the fatality.