'The look on her face is imprinted on my mind'

By KELLY BLANCHARD in Rotorua
Tracey Lovell will never forget the frightened look on her dead mother's face when she identified her body in the mortuary.

Eileen Cameron was killed and her husband James was seriously injured when a drunk driver crashed head-on into their car last November.

This week, Raewyn Kathleen Taipari, 43, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to manslaughter and injury charges as a result of the crash.

Ms Taipari cried as the couple's daughters told the High Court at Rotorua on Thursday how the crash had ruined their lives.

Mrs Lovell, 27, said she would always have emotional scars from having to identify her mother's body and organise her funeral.

"The look on her face is imprinted on my mind forever."

She said she had to declare bankruptcy because of the amount she spent travelling each day to visit her sick father.

She also felt guilty about the crash because her parents were driving to see her the night of the accident.

She described the pain of losing her mother as if someone was "grabbing my heart and squeezing it".

Her sister, Kylie Eustace, 22, told the court she had a breakdown as a result of the crash, and had suffered financial problems because she was unable to work.

Her telephone and cellphone had been disconnected because she could not pay her bills racked up from ringing family members to keep them informed about her father's condition.

She said her marriage was tense because she was always miserable.

"I feel my whole world has been ripped apart ... the only thing that is left is a great big rip through my heart that nothing or no-one can fix."

The court heard that Ms Taipari had a fight with her partner on November 28 and started drinking at her Arapuni home.

She drove to Putaruru to buy more beer, stopping at the Putaruru Hotel where she drank several handles of beer.

She drove home but later returned to the Putaruru Hotel where she drank more alcohol.

Just before 8pm, she left the hotel and was seen by another driver to be weaving across the centre line.

A short time later, she careered around a corner and crashed head-on into the Camerons' car.

She was not hurt in the crash and was taken to Rotorua Hospital for a blood test where she was found to have twice the legal blood/alcohol limit.

Ms Taipari had previous convictions for drink driving in 1993 and 1996. She also had previous convictions for possessing cannabis, shoplifting and two convictions for assault.

Her driver's licence had expired and she was forbidden to drive.

In 2002, she was stopped by police and warned about her expired licence.

On that occasion, her breath/alcohol level was right on the limit and she was not able to be charged.

Ms Taipari's lawyer, Thomas Sutcliffe, said although his client was a woman of "few words and emotions", she was "deeply remorseful" for the damage and hurt she had caused.

Justice Marion Frater accepted Ms Taipari was sorry for her actions but said her previous convictions, level of alcohol in her blood at the time of the crash, and the fact that she did not help the Camerons at the scene of the crash were all aggravating features.

As well the jail sentence, Justice Frater disqualified her from driving for six years.