Both police and Thomas's counsel, Mark Jepson, agreed she shouldn't be jailed for what happened; Mascelle accepted Thomas hadn't gone out that day to kill anyone and that the events - which occurred outside the High Court at Hamilton - were an accident.
Thomas was travelling along Anzac Parade towards Anglesea St, in the central city, on April 14, last year, as Phillips was walking along Anzac Parade to Countdown.
As she drove past the Hamilton Central Police Station she would later tell officers that she began looking down into her driver's footwell and centre console for cigarettes.
At the same time, Phillips had already successfully crossed the northbound lane and was in the middle of the road, Thomas hit him with her vehicle, sending him flying through the air and landing on the grass verge.
Thomas immediately stopped, initially unaware of what she had hit.
She then saw Phillips on the grass and ran over to help, as did other members of the public.
He was taken to Waikato Hospital with life-threatening injuries and underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain which resulted in the cranial flap not being replaced due to evidence of swelling.
He remained in the intensive care unit until he was transferred to the Auckland Brain Institute for rehabilitation on May 25.
Phillips stayed there until October 28 when he was transferred back to Waikato Hospital for surgery to repair the defect in his skull.
On November 1, he had surgery which appeared to have gone to plan, however a review the next day showed deterioration.
Emergency CT scans showed evidence of "very severe" brain injury and he had two more surgeries.
More tests were carried out but there remained no improvement and November 4, at 10.30am, he was confirmed as brain dead and died.
Jepson said his client was extremely remorseful for what happened and had been willing to attend a restorative justice conference but was unable to for reasons out of her control.
"She is suffering on a daily basis ... she is extremely tearful today.
"Ms Thomas is suffering PTSD from the events."
Since the crash she had stop working and been getting counselling over the phone.
He said there were few aggravating features as she had not been speeding, her car was compliant and she hadn't been affected by drugs or alcohol.
However, two things that likely did affect the crash - and were noted in the police serious crash report - was her looking down to find cigarettes and the fact she was driving an electric vehicle - which would have meant Phillips was unable to hear her coming.
Another contributing factor was the fact Phillips didn't check for vehicles before crossing the road, he said.
Mascelle also addressed issues Thomas took with the victim's part in the crash.
"You failed to see Mr Phillips because at the critical moment your attention was elsewhere.
"You make excuses regarding the victim's dark clothing, or him not looking before crossing your path are really of no effect .. your eyes were diverted down away from the road.
"So really, he could have been wearing reflective clothing and it wouldn't have mattered."
Had Thomas been focussed on the road she may have been able to take evasive action, Mascelle said.
She convicted Thomas and sentenced her to 150 hours' community work, nine months' supervision and disqualified her from driving for nine months.
'Our world came crashing down'
In her victim impact statement, Fabian Phillips' mother said her son was looking forward to returning to Hamilton as he recovered from the crash.
"Seeing Fabian the way he was wasn't easy. Fabian had a lovely nature and he accepted what had happened, however he was still frustrated with what his new life was going to look like."
She said the family tried their best to help him, but "it just hurt so much to see him like that".
"I don't like what the driver had done, but it happened, and we accepted that.
"We just want the driver to know what happened is not right."
She said due to Covid-19, the family's ability to see him while he was recovering had been limited.
"We have been hoping and praying that we could get him into a care facility in Hamiton .. the long term goal for us was to have Fabian at home and then him to live independently again.
"One day Fabian told us that he was missing his family and was eager to return to Hamilton.
"In November, Fabian underwent surgery in which we had hoped would be the beginning of Fabian starting this recovery.
"However as a result he passed away. Our world came crashing down.
"The hope that had been built up over the past few months had been taken away from us and we are still coming to terms with that today."
Phillips' family declined to comment when approached by Open Justice after sentencing.
