KEY POINTS:
It was only a moment's inattention, but it cost a life.
Owen Shaw was so devastated by the death of his aunt, who died after the car he was driving crashed into a bank, that he sold his business and moved away from Rotorua. The now 56-year-old owned a motel at the time. Shaw, his wife, aunt and a son and daughter were returning to Rotorua from a function in New Plymouth on March 4 when the crash happened.
Shaw was sentenced yesterday in the Rotorua District Court after previously pleading guilty to careless driving causing the death of 74-year-old June Eleanor Mangino, of Te Puke. Judge Jocelyn Munro, who fined Shaw $1000 and banned him from driving for six months, said the case highlighted how even a split second of inattention behind the wheel could prove fatal.
The court heard Shaw was driving on State Highway 3 near Mahoenui, 50km from Te Kuiti, when he rounded a moderate bend and as a result of "momentary inadvertence" drove on to the other side of the road, crashing into a bank.
Ms Mangino died at the scene but a short time before the crash she had changed the position of her seatbelt so it was more comfortable.
Judge Munro said although Ms Mangino may not have died if she had been wearing her seatbelt properly, she could not be sure.
About 10 family members were in court yesterday including Ms Mangino's daughter who cried as she told the judge she was not angry at Shaw and had not wanted him to be charged. As she walked back to the public gallery she grabbed Shaw's hand.
His lawyer Jonathan Temm pleaded with the judge not to ban his client from driving, saying he needed to be able to drive his wife.
Mr Temm said Shaw should be convicted and discharged without any further penalty as he had no previous convictions and had been overwhelmed by what had happened.
"They are no longer able to operate their motel business and sold it and moved away from the district."
Judge Munro said it was an extremely difficult case as the level of carelessness was relatively minor but the outcome was tragic.
She noted that Shaw had suffered depression, anxiety and memory and speech problems but said a penalty needed to be imposed to highlight the need for drivers to take a high degree of care on the roads. "Everyone makes mistakes but the cost of a mistake or inadvertence can be enormously high," Judge Munro said.
Meanwhile, a Rotorua teenager who injured an 8-year-old boy while driving was yesterday discharged without conviction after she completed a defensive driving courses, 50 hours' community work and apologised to the boy.
Kathryn Bates, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing injury after she accidentally ran a red light on Old Taupo Rd on June 12 and hit the boy.
She hadn't noticed the lights had turned red because she was trying to clear fog from her windows. A victim impact statement prepared in June said the boy had lost his front adult teeth.
Judge Munro said the incident was a "terrible" accident but Bates had done all she could and it was appropriate to discharge her without conviction.
- DAILY POST
