KEY POINTS:
The chief of the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has apologised for the horrifying injuries suffered by a soldier flung from the back of an army truck involved in an accident a year ago.
Linton army base gunner Michael Chapman, 23, was riding alone, unrestrained in the back of the vehicle when it hit a Foodstuffs supermarket truck near Hunterville, a rural community in the lower North Island.
The army truck, a Unimog, crashed into a ditch after the collision and caught fire. It had no seats or seatbelts in the back.
Mr Chapman fractured his skull and many bones, punctured a lung and suffered brain swelling that partially paralysed him.
The crash almost snuffed out his life and he had to be revived at the scene.
Mr Chapman spent five months in hospital and another nine in rehab.
The soldier cannot remember the accident, has had to relearn how to walk and speak properly and can no longer participate in sports. A personal relationship failed.
Judge Peter Callinicos noted that while Mr Chapman remained in the army, his future in the military was severely limited.
He was on light duties, had no chance for promotion and felt as though he was an outsider in his unit, no longer one of the boys.
The Foodstuffs driver, Palmerston North man Shane Ratahi, 45, died was killed.
The Unimog driver, gunner John Francis Eric Penney, allegedly asleep at the wheel at the moment of the crash, has pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing death and injury.
His case is yet to be heard.
In Marton District Court yesterday Judge Callinicos ordered the NZDF to pay $35,000 to Mr Chapman for emotional damage as he sentenced the NZDF under health and safety regulations.
Judge Callinicos said the NZDF was exempt from a fine of up to $250,000 under the legislation but he called for a report for loss-of earnings-reparation, to be presented in mid-March.
Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae apologised in a statement for had happened.
"There was no excuse for permitting what occurred to Gunner Chapman," he said.
He added he sincerely regretted his injuries because he was not restrained.
Judge Callinicos noted NZDF had now implemented safety procedures to ensure all Unimog occupants were properly restrained.
- NZPA
