Killer who grabbed car wheel loses appeal

Worthy Redeemed at his sentencing today. Photo / Ashburton Guardian

A man who killed three people by grabbing the wheel of a car and steering it into the path of an oncoming bus has had his bid to appeal his convictions quashed.

The Court of Appeal has rejected the bid by Worthy Redeemed, 40, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of three counts of manslaughter.

Redeemed, formerly known as Lee Errol Silvester, was the front seat passenger of a car that veered into the path of a bus near Woodend, north of Christchurch, in May 2010.

The Court of Appeal, in its decision published today, said new evidence and a challenge of a witness's evidence at trial was not enough to warrant an appeal.

Redeemed's defence team challenged evidence heard at the trial that indicated the accused had a propensity to commit the offence because of a previous incident where he had grabbed a steering wheel and caused the car to swerve right.

There was also new evidence presented to the Court of Appeal from Professor John Raine who disagreed with the police officer's evidence that the car had deviated by 30 degrees from its original line of travel before the crash.

Professor Raine said the car may have deviated as little as five per cent.

The Court of Appeal said the angle did not matter because there was no challenge to the evidence that it was most likely a ``steering input'' that caused the vehicle to swerve. It also concluded there was no error in the trial hearing the propensity evidence.

"There is no indication that either a substantial miscarriage of justice may have occurred or that any point of general or public importance arises,'' the court said.