Drug-driver claims he didn’t realise he’d hit woman who was flung 7m through the air before crashing into ground

A young Oranga Tamariki social worker was hit by a car outside her work when the driver, Ewyn Ngamaanaka Ashby, failed to stop at the intersection's red light.

A driver high on drugs was “yahooing” out the car window moments before he sped through a red light and ploughed into a pedestrian, leaving the young social worker lying on the road with life-changing injuries as he drove off.

Ewyn Ngamaanaka Ashby, 36, was seen crossing to the wrong side of the road as he drove along a central New Plymouth street around 8.25am on March 27.

He was waving his arm out the window and “yahooing” before he got stuck behind traffic at an intersection.

While waiting, he continued to throw his arm around and call out, and then as the traffic began to move, Ashby made his way towards the intersection of Dawson and Devon Sts.

The traffic lights were red, allowing pedestrians to cross, but Ashby failed to stop and flew through the intersection at approximately 60km/h.

His car collided with a 27-year-old Oranga Tamariki social worker. She had been crossing the road right outside her office.

The woman was flung at least seven metres through the air before crashing to the ground.

Ashby, who had narrowly missed two other pedestrians, drove off, making no attempt to stop following the crash.

The incident was caught on CCTV, and when spoken to by police, he denied being the driver - instead claiming he had been at work since 7.30am. It was later confirmed he was in fact absent that day.

On Wednesday, Ashby appeared in New Plymouth District Court for sentencing on admitted charges of failing to stop or ascertain injury after a crash, driving carelessly causing injury and driving with methamphetamine in his system.

The latter charge stemmed from an impairment test police conducted 11 days before the hit-and-run.

Ashby appeared in New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday. Photo / Tara Shaskey

On March 16, Ashby was pulled over following complaints made to police about his driving.

A blood test returned a positive result for meth, with a blood concentration of 100 nanograms per millilitre of blood. The high-risk level is 50ngm of blood, with the tolerance level being 10ngm.

In court, the victim, supported by a crutch, spoke of the day she was hit by Ashby’s vehicle and how it had dramatically changed her life.

She had just resigned from her job at Oranga Tamariki, having been employed there for around five years, and was excited to be moving to Australia within weeks for employment opportunities.

“All of this has been destroyed because of this driver’s actions.

“On March 27, 2023, I was employed and my future was set. Now, I’m unemployed and uncertain when I will return to the workforce.”

The woman suffered a broken arm, three broken bones in one leg and facial injuries that included broken teeth.

She underwent several surgeries and there was still a long road of recovery ahead, she told the court.

For two months following the crash, she was reliant on others to get her around and for personal care, and that dependence remains in some aspects of her day-to-day life.

She can now only walk short distances with the help of a crutch and is limited in what she can do with her arm, which sustained extensive nerve damage.

“I still have incredibly difficult and frustrating moments every single day about the limitations I have to deal with as a direct result of this driver’s actions,” she said through tears.

“I also struggle to understand how someone could have not stopped after obviously hitting someone, or something, and dealing with any injuries.

“What kind of person does that?”

The woman had declined the opportunity to meet with Ashby through the restorative justice process, but when Ashby was asked by Judge Noel Walsh if he would like to address her, he turned to face her and apologised.

“Sorry for my actions. I know it’s not enough, but I hope one day you can forgive my actions.”

In her submissions, defence lawyer Josie Mooney said Ashby’s drug use was the contributing factor to his offending and he was not aware he had hit a pedestrian.

“His state of mind was that he did not know what was going on.

“It has been difficult to reconcile with himself that his drug use had got so far beyond him that he was not aware of such a significant thing happening.”

Ashby has previously spent time at a residential treatment facility and now wants to return.

Mooney submitted her client, who has fulltime work at an engineering firm where he is considered a valued employee, was remorseful and insightful.

Police prosecutor John Simes refuted Ashby’s claim he did not know he had hit someone.

“It was a significant impact. To suggest that he had no knowledge of it is difficult to accept from a prosecution perspective.”

Simes submitted a start point of two and half years’ imprisonment with a two-month uplift for the drug-driving was appropriate.

He said Ashby should only get a discount for his guilty pleas given he initially flouted responsibility when he denied he was the driver.

Simes suggested he should also pay the victim an emotional harm payment.

Judge Walsh said despite Ashby having a positive, pro-social upbringing, he had a “chequered past with alcohol and drugs and gangs”.

A pre-sentence report, which recommended home detention, assessed him as a high-risk drug user but also said he was articulate, insightful and clear-headed.

In sentencing Ashby, the judge said he had to hold him accountable, denounce his conduct and deter others from similar offending, but also assist in his rehabilitation as a “drug-addict driver”.

Following discounts for guilty pleas and remorse, he sentenced Ashby to nine months of home detention and ordered he pay the victim $4000.

Ashby was also disqualified from driving for one year and ordered to pay $1784 for the blood analysis fees.

Judge Walsh warned Ashby that if things did not change, his future would be in prison.

“Bottom line, you’ve got to beat the meth addiction. I’ll say no more.”

Tara Shaskey joined NZME in 2022 as a news director and Open Justice reporter. She has been a reporter since 2014 and previously worked at Stuff, where she covered crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.