"They were all keen to help, grabbing sheets and towels," Paul said, but Rachael was adamant that she would deliver the baby in hospital.
"I told them I could hold on," she said, and she did, although William was crowning before the car screeched to a halt outside the maternity ward.
They were joined by a police car as they sped through Awanui but ignored the lights and sirens until they reached the bottom of the Awanui Straight, some five kilometres closer to the hospital, where a second police arrived from Kaitaia and persuaded them to stop. Naomi gave them a quick sit rep, the officers leaping back into their cars to provide an escort. William arrived some 10 or 15 minutes later - and Paul missed it.
He had taken their two and a half-year-old firstborn outside to cool off in the fresh air for a few minutes, returning to be greeted with the news that he now had two sons.
William weighed in at seven pounds 15 ounces, a little smaller than Tyreze, and in rude good health.
Meanwhile Senior Sergeant Chris McLellan said he was on way to the Kaitaia police station when he spotted the speeding four-wheel-drive vehicle at Awanui. The driver ignored his flashing lights and continued at speed along the Awanui Straight, so he "engaged in a pursuit."
"The speeds were getting up there [around 130km/h], but the vehicle was staying in the lane and the driver was indicating before passing other traffic," he said.
The driver finally stopped near Pak'nSave, but once he heard that a pregnant woman was onboard the pursuit became an escort.
"One look at the pregnant woman's face and I knew she wasn't ready to negotiate anything. The only place she wanted to be was hospital."
