Motorcycle rider who killed two pedestrians found guilty of manslaughter; identity revealed

A man who struck and killed Karen and Geoffrey Boucher on a pedestrian crossing has been found guilty of manslaughter – meaning he can now be identified for the first time.

Mark Gregory Kimber was today found guilty of two charges of manslaughter, following a more than three-week trial in the High Court at Rotorua. He was acquitted on a charge of dangerous driving causing injury, which related to his pillion passenger.

The 60-year-old’s name has been suppressed since his arrest in order to protect his right to a fair trial. With a verdict now reached, NZME can reveal Kimber has previous convictions for violence, kidnapping, firearms and drug-related offending and has served several stints behind bars.

He has also previously described himself as a Filthy Few life member. The Filthy Few are an outlaw motorcycle club predominantly active in the Bay of Plenty region.

On Friday, July 22, 2022 Kimber’s path crossed with the Bouchers, who were heading home on foot after going out for dinner at The Orchard in Bethlehem, near Tauranga.

Mark Kimber's name suppression lapsed at the conclusion of a two-week trial, in which he was convicted on two charges of manslaughter.

The couple crossed State Highway 2 at a traffic light-controlled pedestrian crossing, just as Kimber shot through the roundabout at speed.

The Crown said he saw the red lights but could not stop in time because he was speeding that night.

Prosecutor Ian Murray told the jury Kimber was doing 110km/h in a 50km/h zone before the Bethlehem roundabout and it was his “complete defiance” of the road rules and speed limits that led him to ignore two sets of speed signs as he was “rocketing along” in a built-up area.

Murray said Kimber cut across the lanes of a roundabout in order to reduce his speed by as little as possible but became distracted by grooves in the road surface.

By the time he looked up and saw the four red traffic signals, he couldn’t stop in time.

Prosecutors Ian Murray (left) and Camille Houia led the Crown case.

His brake lights were seen to come on just before he collided with the Bouchers, sending Karen Boucher flying through the air and dragging Geoffrey Boucher under the bike.

“Mr and Mrs Boucher would still be alive today if Mark Kimber had been obeying the road rules that night.”

His driving had been “so reprehensible”, involving such “wanton disregard” for the safety of other road users, that it deserved being marked with the name “manslaughter”.

The majority verdict from the jury supported the Crown’s assertion.

Ron Mansfield, KC, with co-counsel Caitlin Gentleman, represented Kimber and said his client never denied causing the collision that killed the Bouchers but a lesser charge of careless driving causing death was appropriate.

Ron Mansfield, KC, said Kimber accepted responsibility for the collision, but the charge of manslaughter was not appropriate.

Mansfield said Kimber was focused on a central overhanging green light further down the road and made a “mistake” by not noticing the red lights at the first crossing.

His failure to see the light was the reason for the collision, not his speed, the defence said.

He told jurors the Crown had sought to present Kimber as being “cynical, callous and cold”.

The Crown said Kimber sought to shift the blame when he started a petition calling for a safety review of the crossing and was self-serving immediately after the collision, seeing to his own needs before attempting to assist others.

Geoffrey and Karen Boucher were using the pedestrian crossing at the traffic lights near the Bethlehem shops. Photo / Mead Norton

However, Mansfield said Kimber had been doing his best and his behaviour both on the night and since the collision was consistent with how Kimber felt about the incident.

He’d tried to give Karen Boucher chest compressions when he spotted her lying on the ground.

Kimber had been “very much affected by what happened to the point where he’s taken steps in his life that he never otherwise had”, Mansfield said.

Since the collision, Kimber had been involved in a mentoring programme, completed CPR training and presented the petition at a Tauranga City Council meeting.

“That could not be a more foreign place for him,” Mansfield said.

Kimber said in evidence that he had sought to deliver a condolence card to the Boucher family, through “an associate” whose mother knew the Bouchers, but that card never made it to them.

It had been found by police in a car, undelivered, and was returned to Kimber. On the year’s anniversary of the Bouchers’ death, Kimber had purchased flowers and put them at the scene of the collision.

Mansfield said Kimber was a man of few words who didn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve.

“At times [during his evidence] he was moved by the reality of what was going on and what he needed to talk about, in a way I suggest ... that was entirely genuine,” Mansfield said.

“Mr Kimber doesn’t purport to be or pretend to be an angel, he has acknowledged speeding on the road and other misconduct on the road over many ... years.”

But on the night in question, he had been complying with the road rules, with the exception of the speed limit.

However, the majority verdict indicates the 11 jurors agreed with the Crown that Kimber’s driving had been a “major departure” from the standard expected of a reasonable and prudent motorist.

Justice Cheryl Gwyn confirmed, following the delivery of verdicts and entry of convictions, that Kimber’s name suppression was lifted.

Kimber will be sentenced on the manslaughter charges in July and has been remanded in custody.

Hannah Bartlett is a Tauranga-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She previously covered court and local government for the Nelson Mail and before that was a radio reporter at Newstalk ZB.