KEY POINTS:
Michelle Davies wanted two things from last week's sentencing of the man who changed her life forever. She wanted to eyeball him, make him understand what she and her family have gone through - and she wanted him to go to jail.
She made him meet her gaze
but he escaped prison.
Michelle strode boldly from the public gallery in an Auckland District courtroom last week and dared Jason Peters, the man who had stripped her of her old life forever, to look her in the eye.
Michelle stared grimly at him, her back to Judge Anne Kiernan, stooping lower to make him look at her, clutching her victim impact statement before her.
Eventually he raised his eyes to meet her grim glare.
She said she respected him for at least making eye contact.
When asked by the judge, Michelle faced the bench to read her statement but her eyes remained focused on Peters.
I met Michelle, our neighbour in Orakei, six years ago. We were immediately attracted to her, husband Greg and 2-year-old daughter Gemma.
On May 12, 2006, not long after Greg and Michelle returned from their wedding and honeymoon in Rarotonga, they left in their Jeep to spend a weekend working on their section in the Coromandel but only got as far as Maramarua on State Highway 2. The rest is history, a sad, distressing story for all involved.
Coming in the opposite direction was a BMW, owned by Mathew Peters but driven by his brother Jason, a former policeman and now a farmer and property developer. The brothers and a friend, Tony Andrews, had spent the day at a corporate duck shooting event in the Waikato. When Jason Peters started to drive home, he was well over the legal alcohol limit.
At Maramarua, when the BMW and Jeep collided, Michelle and Mathew Peters bore the full brunt of the impact.
Matthew Peters and Anthony Andrews were trapped inside, injured while Michelle was unconscious, bleeding and critically injured. Gemma was trapped by her legs when Michelle's seat was shunted backward.
Michelle became an unseen victim of road accidents, someone whose life is changed irreversibly along with the lives of all those around them.
Greg Davies and Michelle's father, Robert Wells, outlined in their victim impact statements what that first 24 hours were like - the Auckland Hospital specialists telling them Michelle was unlikely to live, that she was severely brain damaged and would never recover. Greg was given the choice of turning off her life support but decided Michelle would want to fight.
It has been a long, painful haul for Michelle to pull herself out of that coma, open her eyes, learn to speak, to answer simple questions, to make sense of the jumble of messages in her brain, to learn to walk and balance.
And finally after months in hospital and rehab, she was back next door.
But the bright, spontaneous "come-in-and-join-us" Michelle is no longer. Instead, her life is pre-planned, the energy needed for an outing carefully conserved, blocks of awake time saved for the day-to-day business of living.
Gone too is Michelle's interior design business, the jogs along the waterfront, the high-jinks on the trampoline with Gemma, projects in the garden. They have moved too, in an attempt to leave horrific memories in that Orakei house.
She must sleep in the middle of the day or risk being unable to cope the following day, she can't bear crowds or noise and suffers constant pain and stiffness.
And there is an anger in her. The anger gave her the strength to read her statement in court as she talked of being unable to continue with IVF treatment for a second child.
"In so many ways my heart breaks for my family but they seem glad that a part of me could stay," she said.
Heartbreaking too was hearing Greg Davies outline the transformation in his "soul mate", the once happy, bubbly, outgoing and energetic Michelle to the exhausted Michelle, scared to be left alone, who suffered panic attacks, was anxious in large groups and sceptical of those she once trusted.
Greg has suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, flashbacks and the stress of having to learn to relate to a different person. His business suffered following the crash when he was at home caring for Michelle.
With his losses and the permanent loss of Michelle's business, their loss is hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Part of Peters' sentence will be reparation of $25,000, an amount he offered to pay.
When the judge imposed a sentence of a year's home detention, a distraught Michelle - having waited more than two years for the outcome - could not help but shout "boo" and as the judge left the courtroom she called "Absolutely appalled." Turning to Peters' brother Jamie in the public gallery, she called "Family, shame on you" as she left the courtroom.
Compounding her frustration has been a feeling that she, as a victim, had no rights. Getting information from the Crown and the courts was difficult, communication was poor while getting help from ACC for her injuries was a fight, she said. In the end, the Davies had to hire a lawyer to deal with the ACC. When Peters' sentencing was adjourned, Michelle learned about the change indirectly. When she checked with the courts the day before sentencing, she was given the wrong time and courtroom number so she and her family were nearly late.
"The public needs to take some responsibility for drink-driving. If you kill someone you are made to stay home for a year. The public needs to take action. If you know someone has been drinking, don't let them drive, and don't get in the car with them," she said.