A father has been accused of encouraging dangerous driving after a family gathering that led to a collision causing the death of his son and another young man.
Mark Nicholl was dining with family and friends at a bar in Halswell when he and his family members allegedly began street racing, leading to a double fatal collision that not only claimed two lives but also left two of his other sons seriously injured.
The 55-year-old is now on trial in the Christchurch District Court facing two charges of being a party to dangerous driving causing death and one of dangerous driving causing injury.
His son Mark Nicholl jnr, 30 and family friend William Clark, 29 were both killed while another son Jayden Nicholl was seriously injured. A third son Shanan Nicholl suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Shanan originally faced the same charges as his father but was considered unfit to stand trial due to his brain injury and was discharged.
Nicholl senior’s nephew Ricky Nicholl was also involved and has pleaded guilty to the same charges, as well as a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice by swapping seats with another man following the crash.
Mark Nicholl jnr, one of the men killed in the crash in September 2021. Photo / Facebook
Prosecutor Christina Hallaway opened the case describing the collision between a Subaru and ute that resulted in the “avoidable” deaths of two young men.
It is the Crown’s case that although Nicholl senior wasn’t the driver of the Subaru at the time of the crash, he “intentionally encouraged” the driver, Shanan, to drive dangerously and therefore, he can be held liable under the term “party liability”.
Hallaway said on the evening of September 25, 2021, at around midday Nicholl senior and his family and friends were dining at Armadillos in Halswell before leaving in a group just before 7.30pm.
Nicholl snr, Nicholl jnr, Shanan Nicholl, Jayden Nicholl, Ricky Nicholl, William Clark and Matthew Gibbons were among those who left in four cars, travelling in a convoy.
As the group travelled towards the Halswell Junction and Shands Rd intersection they began racing, overtaking one another, breaking heavily at traffic lights and speeding excessively when they turned green, the Crown alleged.
During this time, she alleged some of the men jumped out of the driver’s seat and climbed into the passenger seat, taking turns racing each other.
Mark Nicholl snr is on trial at the Christchurch District Court for his alleged involvement in the double fatal crash that killed his son Mark Nicholl jnr on September 25, 2021. Photo / George Heard
As the convoy approached the Halswell Junction and Shands Rd intersection, the Jeep, driven by Ricky, went speeding ahead and began “fishtailing”, appearing to have lost control, according to a witness.
From the other side of the road, approaching the intersection was a couple in a ute towing a trailer. They were travelling home from the Halswell New World at about 7.30pm and both described hearing a loud screeching as they approached the intersection.
As the couple looked around to see where the screeching was coming from, they described seeing the Jeep fishtailing towards them.
As they watched the Jeep, they were hit head-on by the Subaru, allegedly driven by Shanan, which had spun out of control and was travelling sideways towards them.
Jayden, Nicholl junior and Clark were passengers in the Subaru, Hallaway said.
The man driving the ute described the collision as happening very quickly and said he didn’t even have time to realise what was happening as the Subaru hit him.
He estimated he would have been travelling at about 65km/hr as he was towing a trailer and was anticipating the lights turning orange at the intersection.
The Crown alleged the Subaru would have been travelling well over 100km/hr as it rotated clockwise and crossed the centerline, into the path of the ute.
The Crown also alleged that Nicholl snr, who was following the Subaru in a Holden, was aware of the crash that involved his sons, but continued driving home.
After the collision, the driver of the ute checked his partner was okay and they both climbed out of the passenger door side, as the driver’s door could not be opened.
Once the pair saw the severity of the crash, they began to check the four men in the Subaru, some of whom were unconscious or making groaning sounds.
The woman described a scene of chaos as people began turning up to the crash scene, including some girls who she said began screaming once they saw the state of the men in the Subaru.
The man managed to pull one person from the vehicle and waited with him on the side of the road as emergency services began arriving.
The man said he only had minor injuries such as bruising, while the woman required surgery and suffered whiplash, a concussion, scarring to the back of her eye and distorted hearing in her left ear.
Nicholl jnr and Clark died at the scene while Shanan and Jayden were transported to the hospital.
The Crown says that because Nicholl snr was participating in street racing and encouraging Shanan to drive dangerously by lurching forward in his own car, the jury can be sure he is guilty of the charges he faces.
However, defence counsel Jessica Campbell told the jury he denies encouraging such behaviour and is not responsible for the crash. He was “open and honest” with police, and the jury can be satisfied he is not guilty of the charges.
