No conviction for driver who lost arm after Queenstown crash

The man was ordered to pay $1000 emotional harm reparation and disqualified for six months. Photo / File

A man who had an arm amputated following a crash he caused while driving on Frankton Rd in January has been discharged without conviction in the Queenstown District Court this morning.

Lochana Maduranga Kulasiri Hidella Arachchige, hotel worker, of Queenstown, admitted careless driving causing injury to Emily Bruce on January 11.

Judge Bernadette Farnan said Hidella Arachchige was driving home at 7.20am after finishing an eight-hour shift.

The 33-year-old had been feeling unwell and it was possible he had food poisoning, she said.

He had been driving in a 70km/h area when he had a "momentary blackout" and "woke up on the wrong side of the road", heading straight towards Bruce's vehicle.

He pulled the steering wheel hard left, went to press the brake but instead hit the accelerator.

The two vehicles collided - Hidella Arachchige's vehicle was 3.7m across the centre line at the point of impact and continued to travel at speed into a stone wall and overturned.

Hidella Arachchige, who had no prior convictions, suffered a serious injury to his right arm, which was subsequently amputated.

Bruce, an overseas national, suffered a broken wrist.

Judge Farnan found the consequences of a conviction for Hidella Arachchige, who would find it difficult to obtain future work due to the lasting impacts of his injury, were out of proportion and granted the discharge.

He was, however, ordered to pay $1000 emotional harm reparation and disqualified for six months.