A passenger in a car has been charged with allegedly hiding a nang after a fatal crash on Te Ngae Rd last year. Photo / NZME
A woman charged over a fatal crash involving a car and a bus carrying students is accused of trying to hide a nang canister from police after the crash.
The woman, who was a passenger in the car, faces six charges relating to the November 6 Te Ngae Rd crash that killed fellow passenger Teleia Thompson, 23, from Rotorua.
The car collided with a bus carrying students travelling home after attending a kapa haka event. Several students were injured, along with the driver and a passenger in the car.
The woman appeared in the Rotorua District Court before a registrar yesterday morning and was granted interim name suppression.
She was charged with being a party to dangerous driving causing death, four counts of being a party to dangerous driving causing injury and a charge of perverting the course of justice.
Charging documents supplied to the Rotorua Daily Post show the latter charge alleges the woman willfully attempted to obstruct the course of justice on the day of the crash by removing a canister of nitrous oxide gas, colloquially known as a nang, from a silver Toyota Lexus that was involved in a fatal and serious injury crash.
The charge further alleges the woman hid the nang to prevent police from finding it and establishing that the use of nitrous oxide gas caused the crash.
The charge relating to dangerous driving causing death carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or a $20,000 fine, while the charges relating to dangerous driving causing injury carry a maximum prison sentence of five years jail or a $20,000 fine.
The charge of perverting the cause of justice carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
The crash happened on Te Ngae Rd about 9.20pm.
The bus was carrying children from Gisborne’s Kaiti School after the Te Mana Kuratahi national primary schools kapa haka event in Tauranga.
Three students were taken to hospital but were soon discharged.
Another 26 people were assessed for minor injuries and did not require transport, a St John spokesperson said at the time of the crash.
The woman facing charges will reappear before a registrar in Rotorua on May 19.
Police said yesterday the investigation into the crash was ongoing. Inquiries continued with the car driver, who was seriously injured in the collision.
The Government this week announced a national crackdown on the illegal recreational use of nitrous oxide amid community concerns.
Users inhale the gas to get high, but there are reported health risks.
Nangs range from unmarked shell-sized capsules to 2L-plus canisters supposedly for use as cream-chargers in the catering and baking industries.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Health Minister Simeon Brown said on Wednesday there was no reason for dairies or vape stores to be selling the up-to 3.3L canisters.
“The Ministry of Health has not identified any legitimate use for them and has not found evidence of caterers using canisters of this size,” the ministers said.
They announced nitrous oxide canisters over 10 grams would be automatically classified as psychoactive substances.
Nitrous oxide imports would require approval from the Director-General of Health under the Customs and Excise Act 2018 and “stronger settings” would support law enforcement, they said.
“Although recreational use of nitrous oxide is already illegal, misuse continues to grow and is becoming a serious public health concern,” Brown said.
“The harms can be significant and long-lasting and it is clear we need to do more.”
A Rotorua retailer who allegedly continued selling nangs despite repeated warnings is facing up to two years in prison.
The man, aged in his 30s, appeared in the Rotorua Registrar’s Court in March, charged with unlawfully selling a psychoactive substance that is not an approved product.
The Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 charge carries a maximum prison sentence of two years.
Bay of Plenty Police district commander Superintendent Will Loughrin said at the time of the man’s arrest that he was the region’s first retailer charged under the act.
The man is to reappear in court on June 3.
The Rotorua Daily Post reported on the issue of young people doing nangs in Rotorua in February.
Locals in the Tihiotonga area said they were fed up with people doing nangs in their cars, “dancing and yahooing” in the street, littering and ruining their “lovely” neighbourhood.
Residents say people were parking on the footpath under large trees at the top of Mokoia Dr or off Mokoia Dr in the Centennial Park (Rotorua Tree Trust) carpark.
They could be seen in their cars “doing nangs” and using balloons to inhale nitrous oxide, residents said.
Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.