Hawke’s Bay truck driver Shane Williams sentenced for Tīrau overbridge crash that killed Phillip Hogan

Truck driver Shane Williams was sentenced in the Rotorua District Court for dangerous driving causing the death of Phillip Hogan. Photo / Andrew Warner

* This article has been updated to correct the name of Shane Williams’ employer at the time of the incident.

Phillip Hogan’s 6-year-old daughter was excited to come home from school to show her daddy her sports participation certificate.

But when she got home, police were there. She was about to be told her “hero” had been killed in a crash.

It was July 5, 2021 when Hogan died and his family’s world shattered.

Hawke’s Bay truck driver Shane Jody Williams, travelling south from Auckland, had failed to properly measure his load height and struck a Tīrau overbridge, deflecting the truck into the path of Hogan’s oncoming vehicle and killing him.

Williams was found guilty of careless driving causing death after a judge-alone trial in the Rotorua District Court earlier this year.

He appeared before Judge Maree MacKenzie on Friday and was sentenced to 12 months’ home detention.

He was also disqualified from driving for two years and was ordered to pay emotional harm reparation of $20,000.

Family’s grief

Victim impact statements from four members of Hogan’s family were read, including by his widow, Tania Paul-Hogan, and adult daughter, Samantha McGeady, who were at court.

Paul-Hogan also read a letter from their now 9-year-old daughter.

“To the man who took my hero, my daddy, away: You have ruined the rest of my years to come ... I really miss my dad. He would always make my days better,” the little girl’s letter said.

Through tears, Paul-Hogan also read her statement explaining how her life fell apart on the day her husband and best friend was killed.

She said they married in 2020 in Rotorua – his favourite place and where they dreamed of one day moving.

Happiness filled their home and their children’s schooling and sporting thrived.

Hogan was the family’s main income provider, although Paul-Hogan said she started working five weeks before his death.

He would work a day shift and she would work nights. After he died, she tried to cope by pretending he was just at work.

She detailed her downward spiral that included isolating herself because of panic attacks, anxiety and uncontrollable breakdowns.

She admitted neglecting her children during this period.

McGeady said through tears how she dropped to her knees calling out to her dad when she got the call to say he had died.

She then had to call her younger sister, Charlotte – who turned 16 that day – and deliver the news. She also had to tell her mother, Hogan’s former partner.

“I cry every day and I can hardly sleep. My dad and I were very close so this has and always will affect me greatly.”

She described her father as a “good man, hard-working, very funny and very loving”.

His death had meant she and her four siblings and his eight grandchildren would grow up without him.

“This wonderful human was taken away from us too soon and too fast.”

Crown prosecutor Pavee Patanasiri read victim impact statements from Hogan’s brother, Anthony Hogan, and nephew, Koperu Hogan, who both wrote about how it was hard to accept a single error in miscalculation had had such a traumatic impact.

What went wrong

Williams was an experienced truck driver employed by Deakin Motors. On July 5, he picked up a load – a truck – to transport it back to Hastings.

Judge MacKenzie said Williams measured the truck’s height with a tape measure and loaded it on to his trailer. He removed the tyre valves and chained the truck down. He did not measure the total load with the truck on the trailer, instead estimating it would be 4.75m.

He cleared an overbridge at Mill Rd, which had a posted clearance height of 4.8m. It was known now the clearance was actually greater than this, she said.

On State Highway 1 travelling south, Williams’ truck and trailer hit the Tīrau overbridge. Due to the angle of the bridge being at 145 degrees to the road, the truck deflected into the northbound lane, colliding with an oncoming vehicle driven by Hogan.

What the judge said

Judge MacKenzie noted there was no recognised industry standards or training for truck drivers in measuring the heights of loads.

“I find that staggering given the fact that professional truck drivers have a huge weight of responsibility when driving heavy vehicles.”

She said truck drivers must make sure of their load height before going on roads.

Patanasiri submitted Williams appeared to have failed to show empathy towards Hogan’s family, but Judge MacKenzie said she believed his remorse was genuine.

William’s lawyer, Nicola Graham, had earlier said Williams and his employer had expressed their remorse to the family through the police but, unfortunately, that had not been passed on.

Shane Williams appears in the Rotorua District Court for sentencing. Photo / Andrew Warner

Patanasiri said Williams had previous convictions – careless driving and drink driving in 1993 – and driving infringements before and after the fatal crash. Three 2023 infringements, including for using a mobile phone and speeding, were when he was on bail.

Patanasiri told Judge MacKenzie Williams’ infringements indicated a “cavalier” attitude towards driving.

Judge MacKenzie said she put aside the 2023 infringements because they post-dated the crash and the previous convictions were not relevant because they were from 31 years ago.

She noted it was concerning his eight infringements included using a mobile phone while driving in 2019 and exceeding 90km/h while driving a heavy motor vehicle in 2022.

She acknowledged the significant impact Hogan’s death had on his whānau.

“There’s been a big ripple effect of the trauma on the whānau. Ms Paul-Hogan’s world unravelled, the children suffered. I’m impressed by Ms Paul-Hogan’s raw honesty about how things spiralled out of control for her.”

Judge MacKenzie took up Williams’ offer to immediately pay the whānau $10,000 in reparation but also ordered another $10,000 be paid at a rate of $100 a week. However, she said she would “leave it to your conscience” whether that money could be paid off quicker.

Judge MacKenzie said this was not putting a “figure” on Hogan’s life or to give Williams a lesser sentence, it was instead to make things easier for Paul-Hogan and her family.

After Williams was sentenced and left the courtroom, Judge MacKenzie addressed the family in the public gallery saying she hoped they got some closure.

“It’s always really hard in sentencing for a case like this because a sentence never ever matches up to the loss. I’m consciously aware of that. I can’t bring Mr Hogan back, a man who was clearly much loved and a great human being.”

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.