Death-crash driver gets three-year jail sentence

A taxi driver who killed his wife's two children and mother while driving drunk has been jailed for three years - against his wife's wishes.

A tearful Meenu Chandra told Judge Carolyn Henwood yesterday that she had already lost her children and mother and she did not want to lose her husband, Amir Jan, as well.

"I have friends and family support but no one close. I don't want him to go to prison ... I need him ... Please be fair to him," she cried.

But despite taking into account Jan's previous good character, guilty plea and remorse, Judge Henwood said three lives were taken and the 27-year-old had to be imprisoned for that.

The sentencing, in the Waitakere District Court, came eight months after Jan got into his white Ford Falcon, drove at twice the speed limit and crashed into a powerpole, killing his stepsons, Shanal Kumar, 4, and Shamel Kumar, 9, and his mother-in-law, Indu Chandra, 53.

His lawyer, Gary Gotlieb, said Jan accepted two vodka and Pepsis from his father-in-law on the evening of August 11 at a family celebration. He did not normally drink but took the drinks so as not to offender his father-in-law.

Unaware of the effects the alcohol had on him, the off-duty taxi driver climbed into his car with his stepsons, his wife and her parents.

When the car collided with a concrete powerpole in Titirangi, one of the children, who had been sharing a seatbelt in the backseat, was thrown from the car.

Police concluded that speed and alcohol were significant factors. Jan had 133mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

Yesterday Mrs Chandra, who was also injured in the accident, said everyone had suffered as a result of the crash.

"I have lost my children and my mother, yet I am still suffering ... Amir has also suffered a lot."

She described Jan as a "wonderful father" to her children.

The children's biological father, Sanjay Kumar, was not present in court yesterday but passed a message to the judge via a victim adviser saying he did not want the responsibility of deciding Jan's fate.

Mr Gotlieb said the Chandra/Jan family were considering an appeal.

What happened

The accident: Taxi driver Amir Jan crashes into powerpole after driving drunk and at speed last August. His two stepsons and mother-in-law are killed.

The charges: Drink-driving causing death (x3), drink-driving causing injury.

The plea: Guilty.

The sentence: Three years in jail.