Man jailed over fatal crash into house

There was significant damage to the house, however no one was home at the time. Photo / Greymouth Star

A Kumara man who caused the death of Runanga man Judd Hall, 26, by driving drunk while fleeing from police at high speed was sentenced to five years in prison at the Greymouth District Court this afternoon.

Jordan Nathaniel McGrath, 28, was given the sentence with a minimum term of two years in prison on charges of manslaughter, dangerous driving causing injury and driving with excess blood alcohol.

McGrath had previously pleaded guilty to all the charges. He was also disqualified from driving for five years.

The car that McGrath had been driving crashed into a High Street house about 11.30pm on Friday, January 24, just 900m into a high-speed police pursuit during which the Subaru stationwagon reached speeds of 142kph in a 50kph zone.

Mr Hall, who was a back-seat passenger in the vehicle, died at the scene, while McGrath was seriously injured when he was impaled on a length of timber which speared through the car. Kori Jeffcoat was also injured, though not seriously.

Prosecutor Mark Zarifeh said the aggravating factors in the incident included the "grossly excessive speed" of McGrath's car, the blood-alcohol reading of 130 to 160mg per 100 ml of blood, driving to avoid police and causing the death of one of his passengers and injury to the other.

McGrath also had two previous drink-driving convictions in March 2007 and June 2003.

In an emotional statement to the court Mr Hall's father, Ric Durbridge, said McGrath had chosen to "give away safety in regard to others". However, he said McGrath had put his "hand up to say I did this" in taking responsibility for the fatal crash.

That was in stark contrast to the circumstances in which Mr Durbridge and his partner Joe Hall had lost their other three sons.

In his statement, Mr Durbridge recommended a community or home- based sentence, as locking people up did not work because all people did was lock up the problem.

However, Judge Cameron Mander said jail was the only proper recourse. He said that McGrath drove at "speed in a reckless manner over a sustained distance ... your driving at speed was persistent and deliberate."

He also said that there were no mitigating features to the incident. However, Judge Mander did not impose any reparation on McGrath, as he was unable to work due to the injury he had suffered in the crash and was currently unable to work and was on a sickness benefit.

Judge Mander said any reparations would result in "undue hardship" and was inappropriate in the circumstances.

The judge said Mr Judd's family had also shown remarkable restraint in their response to what McGrath had done.