Tulaga, who was in the front and not wearing a seatbelt, died at the scene.
Lualua, 32, was treated at Tauranga Hospital for severe leg injuries. A sample taken more than six hours after the crash showed he had a blood alcohol reading of 25mg per 100ml of blood. The legal limit to drive is 50mg per 100ml of blood.
Both men were employed by packhouse Trevelyan as kiwifruit workers under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme.
The victim’s mother provided a letter of support for Lualua after he pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death under the influence of alcohol.
Before Lualua was sentenced in the Tauranga District Court on Monday Crown prosecutor Larissa Mulder read a victim impact statement from Tulaga’s mother to the court.
The mother’s statement said the crash changed their lives “forever”, and her son’s sudden death was a “massive loss” for the family.
She said they were still learning to live without her beloved son and “no sentence” would change that.
Tulaga had been sending money back home to his parents to buy a plot of land and build a house, and he had been planning to marry his girlfriend on his return to Samoa.
Now, every day they looked out from the family home to his grave “on the plot of land he had helped to buy”.
“We have lost this beautiful soul Tautiaga, and will never see him get married, have children and contribute to his family and his village. An absence that nothing can ever fill.”
The mother wished Lualua “all the best going forward”.
“Please do not let Tautiaga’s life and his death be in vain. Use this experience to deter and educate others so that another life is not taken unnecessarily.
“Tautiaga is no longer here. But you [Telea] still have a life and do not take it for granted, learn from this tragedy and be better. Let us never forget Tautiaga, a life taken too soon.”
Judge David Cameron said it was “highly commendable” for Tulaga’s family to show this level of forgiveness given the tragic circumstances and “immeasurable loss” of his death.
“I agree with his mother’s observation that no sentence will change that,” he said.
“Notwithstanding that loss, it is to her immense credit that she still wishes the defendant to lead a fruitful and full life. And, as she puts it, ‘learn from this tragedy and be better’.”
Defence lawyer Sefton Revell told Judge Cameron his client wanted to acknowledge the “sorrow and remorse” he felt for the harm he had caused the victim’s family.
Lualua also wanted to acknowledge and thank the Tulaga family for the “grace and forgiveness” they had shown him.
Among the several letters of support was also one from the defendant’s former employer.
Revell said his client accepted “complete responsibility and guilt” for his conduct that day.
He urged Judge Cameron to sentence Lualua to home detention “primarily on medical grounds”, which were detailed in a report from the defendant’s orthopaedic surgeon.
Revell said Lualua had undergone one surgery to treat his severe right-leg injury but still needed a further “complex” operation in the coming weeks or months, and his post-operative care could not be properly managed in a prison environment.
Revell also argued that home detention was appropriate given that Lualua had no prior convictions and was of previous good character, as evidenced by several references and the letter of support.
He said his client would be deported to Samoa on completion of his sentence.
Crown prosecutor Larissa Mulder confirmed the Crown accepted the defendant “would be impacted” by a custodial sentence.
Judge Cameron agreed home detention was the appropriate outcome in this case, after taking into account the orthopaedic surgeon’s report and Lualua’s remorse, guilty plea, previous good character and letters of support.
Lualua was sentenced to seven months’ home detention, subject to conditions including not consuming alcohol or unprescribed drugs.
Lualua was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
