Wellington hit-and-run driver Michael Cooper sentenced over crash that caused life-changing injuries

Michael Cooper appeared in the Wellington District Court for sentencing. Photo / Catherine Hutton

A man who was hit by a van while fixing his car on the street was struck with such force that he was catapulted into the air across the car, hitting his head on the windscreen before falling on to the road.

As a result of the hit-and-run on an evening in October 2022, the man spent months in the hospital undergoing several operations before being transferred to a rehabilitation centre.

He lives with a metal plate in his head, a scar stretching from ear to ear, and suffers from severe migraines that have left him unable to work.

At the sentencing of the man responsible for the crash, the victim’s sister told the Wellington District Court she will never forget the sight of the back of her brother’s head hanging “like a melted marshmallow down the gurney”.

Michael David Cooper, the driver of the red Mitsubishi van, was sentenced this week after earlier admitting a charge of dangerous driving causing injury.

On the evening of October 16, 2022, the victim was working on the car, which was parked on a trailer on a wide, flat street in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.

He was standing on the street on the driver’s side of the vehicle, with his back to the road.

As he worked on the car, Cooper drove down the street, veering too close to the left-hand side, striking the victim and sending him catapulting into the air.

The court heard Cooper sped off after the crash, failing to check on the victim, whom he knew. The van was never seen again.

Police issued a photo asking for CCTV or dashcam footage of the red van linked to the Miramar incident. Photo / Supplied

The pair are related, although the court heard they don’t like each other, something Judge Peter Hobbs asked counsel about, saying he couldn’t ignore their relationship.

Crown prosecutor Claire Hislop told the court video footage of the crash showed the van making a deliberate swerve towards the car, but it couldn’t be said it was intentional, just that the van swerved dangerously, she said.

But she submitted there was “an incredible coincidence” that someone known to the victim drove in his direction.

Cooper’s lawyer, Elizabeth Hall, took issue with that, submitting there was “no evidence available” that Cooper knew the man was on the street that night, pointing out the car the victim was repairing wasn’t parked outside his house, workplace or any address that was associated with him.

‘Today is not about you, Michael Cooper’

Emotional victim impact statements read to the court described the man’s lengthy rehabilitation after waking in intensive care, unable to recognise his own son.

His family explained that before the crash, the man had a way with words, but he now struggles to communicate, often mixing his words, and is unable to fully express himself.

His sister told the court her brother’s life was now a daily struggle to concentrate, as his memory, movement and independence had been permanently scarred.

She said that for 1071 days the family had lived under the weight of trauma, grief and injustice.

“Today is not about you, Michael Cooper, and how you chose to perceive your actions; it is about us and healing, about speaking truth into this space.”

But she said in the depths of trauma and grief, the family had found strength, and the incident had drawn them closer together.

In sentencing Cooper, Judge Hobbs thanked the family for their eloquent statements, saying they had demonstrated mana in the way they spoke and hadn’t tried to belittle Cooper or speak to him inappropriately.

The judge acknowledged that Cooper had originally faced a more serious charge, but on the morning of his trial, the charge was amended to dangerous driving causing injury, which Cooper had pleaded guilty to.

The Crown sought a starting point of two and a half years’ jail, while the defence submitted that a year’s imprisonment was a more appropriate starting point.

Judge Hobbs adopted a starting point of 22 months’ jail, noting the aggravating features, including Cooper’s failure to stop, his decision to dispose of the van, which the judge said spoke to his guilt, and the serious and life-changing injuries inflicted on the victim.

He also acknowledged that Cooper had previous driving convictions.

Hall submitted that given her client’s guilty plea, coupled with the several months he’d spent in custody, followed by a lengthy period on electronically monitored bail – during which he was unable to drive – the judge should impose no further sentence.

She said he had already been penalised beyond what would normally be expected for the charge.

But Judge Hobbs said the purposes and principles of sentencing wouldn’t be achieved if there were no punitive element.

He sentenced Cooper to five months’ home detention and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

Catherine Hutton is an Open Justice reporter, based in Wellington. She has worked as a journalist for 20 years, including at the Waikato Times and RNZ. Most recently she was working as a media adviser at the Ministry of Justice.