Nicholas Dryland, who caused fatal cyclist crash, now jailed for assaults on mum

Nicholas Dryland, pictured outside the Hamilton District Court in 2014 after his sentencing for careless driving causing death and injury after crashing into a bunch of cyclists. Photo / NZME

A man who crashed into a group of cyclists, killing one, is back behind bars - this time for assaulting his mother again.

Nicholas James Dryland ploughed into 49-year-old cyclist Craig Goulsbro and his friends as they cycled along Puketaha Rd near Gordonton on July 1, 2013.

The crash also seriously injured William Donaldson and Christopher Smith, and Dryland was jailed for 12 months.

Since then, Dryland has been no stranger to the courts and in 2016 was sentenced for assaults on his then partner, and punching a hallway door repeatedly during an argument with his mother.

In 2020, he was jailed for assaulting his mother, and she was granted a protection order in 2021, which Dryland has now breached.

The 34-year-old appeared in the Hamilton District Court yesterday for sentencing on charges of breaching a protection order, wilful damage and assaulting a person in a family relationship, after three separate incidents.

All of the incidents involved his mother whom he had lived with most of his life.

‘Punched walls, pushing, verbal abuse’

Dryland’s mother went to the police in February last year about her son’s ongoing breaching of the protection order.

The first was on November 30, 2024, when he punched three holes in the wall of an alleyway between the house and garage and another hole in a kitchen wall.

On January 20, 2025, he verbally abused her, telling her that he wished she would die, and a week later, pushed her twice as she stood at the top of a set of stairs, causing her to stagger, before pulling her hair upwards “with force”.

The following month, the pair were arguing in their kitchen when he picked up a large onion and threw it at her, striking her kidneys and leaving her with a bruise and pain.

‘I’ll do better in the future’

Dryland’s counsel Afitu Veatupu said his client’s mother and partner were in court to support him.

A property had only just been made available for Dryland to serve a home detention sentence, and he hoped he could be granted leave to apply for that.

However, Judge Tini Clark said she hadn’t previously indicated that a home detention sentence would be a given, and asked him to submit why he should get that instead of prison.

Veatupu said the assaults were at the lower end of the scale, these were his first breaches of the protection order, and there was a suitable property in Te Awamutu.

But the judge persisted, and put to him it wasn’t about the property, it was about why he deserved a home detention sentence.

Veatupu said it was the least restrictive option available, but Judge Clark replied that his pre-sentence report “wasn’t particularly positive and I didn’t disagree with much of anything contained in that report”.

He had not taken full responsibility for what happened or the impact of his actions, and only suggested that he “will do better in the future”.

Dryland himself then piped up from the dock, stating that his mother had power of attorney over his trust and she had guardianship over his affairs.

A much younger Nicholas James Dryland in the dock in 2013. Photo / Alan Gibson

After telling him to remain quiet, Judge Clark and Veatupu continued discussions about home detention, with Veatupu explaining his client had a brain injury, which he suffered in an accident as a child.

He had also completed community-based sentences in the past without any issue and was remorseful.

‘There’s an ongoing pattern of risk’

In sentencing, JudgeClark said it was “concerning” that he had assaulted his mother again.

A report stated that Dryland’s previous history showed an “ongoing pattern of risk” in personal relationships and had a poor ability to problem solve.

“Without there being much change in his behaviour, his risk of reoffending and harm to others is high, with particular concern to those in family and intimate relationships.

“He denied aspects of the summary [of facts], giving all sorts of reasons as to why he behaved the way that he did,” the judge said.

However, he had completed a restorative justice conference with his mother and partner.

“I was not surprised to see that his mother’s attitude to him was compassionate, but I have read through a number of documents ... where it seems clear that over an extended period of time, Mr Dryland has behaved inappropriately and in a violent way towards his mother.”

Contributing towards his violent behaviour was the brain injury, which had left him with neuro-psychological issues, “through no fault of his own” but were also of “an increasingly problematic nature”.

Judge Clark told him that injury didn’t give him a reason to behave the way that he had been and to continue spitting “venom” at his mother.

He was also now a father to a young child, which also caused her concern, especially as the last time he appeared, she remanded him in custody after returning a positive drug test for meth and cannabis.

Judge Clark agreed to allow him leave to apply for home detention, but only if it was at a rehabilitative facility.

“Clearly he has ill-addressed substance abuse issues. It is in his interests and in the interests of his new partner and their baby that he get on top of a number of issues, one of which is his use of drugs.”

She jailed him for 10 months.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.