An innocent life wiped out at 180km/h

Liam Cooper was a gifted soccer player. One the morning of his death he scored a decisive goal.

Liam Cooper's middle name was Attrayu. His mother, Simone, chose it because it was the name of the boy warrior in the 80s film The Neverending Story.

Now, Mrs Cooper has been left with anger and a gaping hole in her heart because her 8-year-old, soccer-loving boy warrior is dead, killed when a car driven at up to 180km/h ploughed into the car in which he was a passenger on Saturday in Tokoroa.

"I feel very angry that someone should take the life of my little boy," Mrs Cooper said yesterday.

Liam was a Year 4 student at Tokoroa North School and a gifted soccer player, playing two grades above his age in an under-11 team.

His mother said his talent had earned him a place in an elite squad cultivating young players to play at international level, but he had never let it get to his head.

"He was always humble in terms of his soccer ability."

The morning of the day Liam died, he scored a goal that gave his team a 3-3 draw with five minutes of the game to go.

Mrs Cooper sobbed as she spoke about her son, who she said was loving and admired by other children.

Her grief has been made infinitely worse by the fact that her husband, Mark, was in the car with Liam and remained last night in a critical condition in Waikato Hospital.

A respected soccer coach and baker, he had yet to learn that the oldest of his three children is dead.

The pair had been on their way to Matamata to watch the Tokoroa senior men's team, which Mr Cooper coaches, when the crash happened.

The car they were in was driven by the team's goalkeeper, Rowan Pringle, who was also injured.

They were pushed off the road by a Holden Commodore driven by Pehi Rangi, 24, smashing into a power transformer and catching fire.

No charges have been laid against Mr Rangi, who is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

Police said at least five motorists had to take evasive action to avoid head-on collisions with the Holden.

Trevor Wilson could have put his hand out of his car window and touched the speeding Holden with the number plate "Hlspwn" hurtling into Tokoroa on Saturday afternoon.

His car, towing a trailer laden with wood, was one of the last overtaken by the car doing about 180km/h just moments before the crash.

"It gave me a fright. I thought he was going to crash, then he did. It was the most freaky thing I have seen in my life."

Mr Wilson thought of his own two children as he tried to help the Coopers and Mr Pringle.

Barbara Augustina, who lives across the road from the accident site, just past the netball courts where hundreds of people were playing sport, said the scene was horrific and the feeling in Tokoroa was one of complete unfairness.

"The person who caused the accident has survived, and as usual it's the innocent one that gets it."

Ms Augustina said speed was often a problem on the main road leading into Tokoroa.

"It was an accident waiting to happen. It says 60km/h but that's not what everybody does - some people are flying along there."

The Herald understands that Mr Rangi has a history of mental illness and has been transferred to a mental health unit for psychiatric assessment.

His family, from Atiamuri, hung up when the Herald phoned yesterday.

Mrs Cooper said she felt deep sadness about the circumstances of the crash.

"If it wasn't our family, it would have been another family."

Liam's maternal grandmother, Pat Ellis, said she was very bitter.

"Why the hell didn't he [Mr Rangi] pick a bank or a tree?"