Boy racer jailed for manslaughter

A boy racer who drove at speeds of up to 180km/h has been jailed for three-and-a-half years for the manslaughter of two passengers in the other car he was racing.

Matekohi Matthew Morgan, 23, from Huntly was also disqualified from driving for five years when he appeared for sentencing in the High Court in Auckland today.

He was earlier found guilty by a High Court jury of two charges of manslaughter after he and another driver Ricky Smith raced their cars between Waiuku and Pukekohe in November 2004.

During the race, Smith overtook on a blind bend controlled by double yellow lines but crashed off the road, killing two passengers, Luke Hall and Tyson Bruggy, both 18 from Waiuku.

Smith, also of Waiuku, pleaded guilty, and at an earlier hearing, was also jailed for three-and-a-half years and disqualified from driving for five years.

Justice David Baragwanath said a letter and poem from the families of the dead teenagers, who he described as fine young men, was compelling and deeply moving.

He said it appeared to be the first case of sentencing of a young man involved in racing which led to death, but whose own car was not involved in a fatal crash.

He said statistics had shown that in the decade to January 1, 2004, 5000 people had died on New Zealand roads.

The judge said the hideous death toll meant an increasingly hard line by sentencing courts that had often failed to register on young drivers.

Morgan's failure to understand the significance of his driving on the night of the tragedy was a state of mind which required the education of other New Zealanders, he said.

He said Smith was more blameworthy, but Morgan did not get the same credit Smith received for an early guilty plea.

However, he said an earlier arrogance by Morgan had turned into an openness, genuine recognition and remorse for what he had done.

For Morgan, Gordon Matenga said he was genuinely remorseful and had asked for his apologies and remorse to be expressed to the court and the families of the dead teens.

- NZPA