Anthony Alexander Thomas admitted lying to police about who was driving at the time of a crash that killed a cyclist. Photo / File
Anthony Alexander Thomas admitted lying to police about who was driving at the time of a crash that killed a cyclist. Photo / File
The driver behind a fatal hit-and-run told police it was his friend who was responsible for the crash and he didn’t know anything about it.
But in Christchurch District Court yesterday, Anthony Alexander Thomas admitted he had lied to police about being in the passenger seat when his Subaru vehicle collided with cyclist Sean William Russell Innes.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to defeat the course of justice after having earlier admitted to driving dangerously causing death and failing to stop and ascertain injury.
Initially, a 44-year-old Ashburton man who has interim name suppression was accused of the hit-and-run.
But Thomas, a 30-year-old farmer from Ashburton, later owned up to being behind the wheel after he was “overcome with guilt” when Innes, 45, died in hospital two weeks later.
According to the summary of facts, Thomas and his co-accused were travelling from Ashburton to Christchurch around 3pm on September 13 last year.
Thomas was driving and his co-accused was in the passenger seat as the car turned onto Linwood Ave, which was busy with traffic at the time.
Anthony Alexander Thomas appeared in Christchurch District Court yesterday. Photo / File
As he approached stationary traffic at the intersection of Linwood Ave and Buckleys Rd, Thomas drove along the left-hand shoulder of the road, designated for cyclists.
Innes, who was cycling, was struck from behind and forced up onto the car’s bonnet before being thrown onto the road.
Thomas, who was travelling at least 73km/h when he hit Innes, made no attempt to slow down or stop following the collision. Instead, he completed a left turn and fled the scene.
A short distance from the crash site, Thomas pulled over and swapped seats with his co-accused.
The man then drove the car towards Burwood, having to steer while looking out the window due to the windscreen damage.
The Subaru also had damage to its front bumper, headlights and its front and rear driver’s side tyres were deflated.
Following the crash, witnesses reported seeing the vehicle travelling “significantly faster” than the posted 50km/h speed limit and told police it had crossed onto the wrong side of the road, causing other motorists to swerve out of the way.
Thomas and his co-accused parked the vehicle in the residential red zone before fleeing across abandoned land and swimming across Horseshoe Lake in Burwood.
Later that evening, Thomas called the police and reported his vehicle as stolen, claiming he had woken up to find it missing.
His co-accused took over the phone call and told police that he was in fact the driver at the time and was responsible for the crash.
He said he was drunk and hit someone before dumping the vehicle and that Thomas didn’t know anything about it.
