KEY POINTS:
One of the worst-injured survivors of the Edgeware Rd tragedy says the guilty verdicts can never bring back the two teenage girls mown down in a murderous car rampage.
Lipine Sila was found guilty of murder and causing grievous bodily harm for driving a car through a crowd of partygoers in Christchurch last year.
He hit 28 people and killed Hannah Rossiter and Jane Young, both 16.
Felicity Tewnion was about to leave the party in her car when Sila drove into her, causing severe brain injuries, a broken arm and leg, as well as a deep cut to her face.
She told the Herald on Sunday the verdict was a relief, but bittersweet.
"I feel so much more free now than I have for a long time. It was blatantly murder," said Tewnion. "He drove his car straight into us all.
"I can start getting on with my life now. I do feel sorry for Hannah and Jane's families. Justice has been done, but it will never bring them back."
Her father Wayne Tewnion said the guilty verdicts lifted a huge weight off his family's shoulders.
"It was a long time waiting but, at the end of the day, their verdict was right," he said.
"He used his car as a weapon - to us it was pretty cut and dry."
Sila was found guilty on 10 charges in the High Court in Christchurch yesterday afternoon, after the jury considered the verdict for four days after a five-week trial.
Outside court, Sally Rossiter, mother of one of the murdered girls Hannah, was asked if she had any words for the family of 23-year-old Sila. She replied: "I think the whole thing is a waste".
Harry Young, father of Jane Young, the other girl killed in Sila's seven-second drive, said the long wait for the verdict had been torture.
"It was a no-brainer from the beginning for us."
He also said that the legal system was imperfect and the jury had not been told everything.
"We can just grieve for Jane now," he said on the courthouse steps, with his wife Lorraine beside him. "We can be together and think about Jane, and think about the rest of our lives."
Sally Rossiter said the verdict was "very just".
On Friday, the jury had signalled it could not reach a verdict and asked for further directions.
Justice John Fogarty spoke to the jurors, who retired to a hotel for the night, before rewatching all of Sila's video interviews yesterday morning.
Sila remained impassive in the dock as the 10 guilty verdicts were read out, with the Samoan interpreter standing close to him.
Justice Fogarty remanded him in custody for sentence on June 26.
- NZPA
