Four year jail term for recidivist drink driver

Matthew Kennedy knows his mother Katherine 'Rin' Kennedy is gone forever. Photo / Supplied

Matthew Kennedy will be 7 when the man who killed his mother becomes eligible for parole.

He had just turned 5, on March 17, when his uncle Chris gave him the devastating news.

Katherine Kennedy, 46, known by friends and family as Rin, had just dropped her son off at school in Kerikeri when 49-year-old Warren John Jenkins' ute veered across the centre line.

Ms Kennedy swerved to avoid him but Jenkins, who was disqualified from driving and had been on the booze all night, hit her head-on.

Yesterday Jenkins, who has 17 previous drink-related convictions, was sentenced in the Auckland District Court to four years' imprisonment.

Judge Emma Aitken set a non-parole period of two years. She said his was the worst offending of its kind and had the option been available to her she would have given him a harsher sentence.

She said she hoped Jenkins was listening as victim impact statements were read.

On the day of the fatal crash, Jenkins had driven 180km from Orewa to Kerikeri drinking wine from a fizzy-drink bottle with a friend in his partner's ute. He had earlier argued with his partner and fought the keys off her. Jenkins' ute failed to negotiate a slight bend on State Highway 10 and hit Ms Kennedy head-on as she tried to take evasive action.

She died in Whangarei Hospital.

Jenkins returned a blood-alcohol reading of 146mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood - nearly twice the 80mg legal limit. He was also taken to hospital but checked himself out. He was found asleep in a car in Auckland a week later.

Judge Aitken said Jenkins had 16 convictions for driving with excess breath alcohol and one for driving under the influence of alcohol, five of which were since 2005.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail in 2006 for two drink-driving convictions and a further 15 months in 2007 for a drink-driving offence. He also had 17 convictions for driving while disqualified and had breached bail several times.

Crown prosecutor Scott McColgan said Jenkins was shot in the head during a fight in 1994 and should not be drinking at all as he had suffered a brain injury.

He had been in and out of different rehab facilities.

Ms Kennedy's family said Jenkins, who showed no remorse as he was sentenced, had not owned up to his actions, but his lawyer Leigh Laneridge said: "He wants to make it clear that he is accepting full responsibility for what happened from the time he got into that vehicle".

Ms Kennedy's brother Chris Kennedy said he and his wife Sarah, who Matthew lives with, had explained to the youngster who Jenkins was and he "knows he's going to jail".

"I guess he's at an age where he doesn't understand fully the consequences. He knows his mum's gone forever but I don't know how long forever is when you're 5."