Kevin Bishell has been clocked driving at 190km/h. Photo / Tara Shaskey
Kevin Bishell has been clocked driving at 190km/h. Photo / Tara Shaskey
A convicted dangerous driver who killed a teenage girl in a head-on crash he caused by speeding and swerving across the centreline has now, six years on, been clocked driving at 190km/h.
Officers also found 2.24g of methamphetamine and 17g of cannabis on Kevin Ronald Bishell after they pulled him over in Warkworth and searched his Mercedes.
Bishell’s dangerous driving on August 6 this year follows the death of Olivia Keightley-Trigg, 18, on August 28, 2018.
On that morning, the ute Bishell was driving ploughed into the teen’s vehicle head-on, leaving her dead at the scene.
Bishell, 44, was travelling an estimated 113km/h when he attempted a passing manoeuvre while heading south on Devon Rd, near Waitara in Taranaki. He crossed the double yellow centrelines and travelled straight into the path of the teen’s car.
The Taranaki man, who has several previous convictions for careless driving, one just three months before the crash, passed a roadside evidential breath test but while at hospital, he refused to provide an evidential blood sample.
After serving a prison sentence of two years and six months for the fatal crash, he breached a release condition by testing positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and cannabis.
Bishell’s recent bout of dangerous driving is detailed in court documents released to NZME last week.
Six years ago, Kevin Bishell caused a crash that killed Olivia Keightley-Trigg, 18.
According to the summary of facts, police had clocked him on a speed detection device travelling at 190km/h for one kilometre along State Highway 1.
The Search and Surveillance Act was then invoked and the drugs were located in his car.
Bishell was arrested and charged with driving at a dangerous speed, and possession of meth and cannabis.
He later appeared in North Shore District Court where he pleaded guilty to the charges.
In 2022, Bishell sat down with NZME and broke his silence about his life of crime which included witnessing the fatal police shooting of his best friend, and other high-profile offending.
Talking about the death of Keightley-Trigg, he said it had shattered him.
He was at the hospital being treated for injuries he sustained in the crash, including a fractured sternum and a concussion when police arrived to deliver the news and arrest him.
“I do accept responsibility, and I did from the word go,” he said at the time.
“I f***ed up, I was there, it doesn’t really matter what happened. I accepted responsibility for my actions.”
But then he disputed driving dangerously, undermining the accountability he had just conveyed and the summary of facts he admitted to and was sentenced on.
Bishell said he would always be a drug addict and “getting clean” has to be a choice.
He also said he did not want anything more to do with “authorities” and wanted out of the system.
“I just want to get on with my life. That’s all I want to do really.”
When asked at the time whether his future would include any more appearances in a courtroom dock, he said “hopefully not”.
He will be sentenced next month for his latest offending.
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 covering crime and justice, arts and entertainment, and Māori issues.
