Runover man left 'like a piece of litter'

Tom Fry was run over twice in the space of a few minutes in May. Photo / Supplied

The distraught sister of Tom Fry, the North Otago farm worker who was twice run over within the space of a few minutes in May, today questioned how the drivers could have left her brother "like a piece of litter, lying across a highway".

Elizabeth Fry made an emotion-charged victim impact statement to the Invercargill District Court during the sentencing of one of the drivers, Cam Paul Kennedy.

Kennedy, 26, had earlier admitted one charge of wilfully attempting to obstruct the course of justice, by taking all identification from, then burning, a vehicle.

Judge Kevin Phillips said Mr Fry, 18, was first run over and killed about 3.50am on May 13, on a road north of Oamaru, by a truck driven by Richard Eion Gent.

"That driver drove on and left the body on the road."

Soon after, the vehicle driven by Kennedy ran over Mr Fry, causing the car to run off the road. Kennedy and his female passenger returned to the scene to see what he had hit. Thinking he had killed Mr Fry, Kennedy drove off in panic, the judge said.

Kennedy then drove his Nissan Skyline car through the back roads before he crashed it. He removed all identifying features from the car including the registration plates and window labels, before pouring oil over the car and setting it on fire.

The pair then walked to a farmhouse where they used the phone to contact an associate. They were picked up and on the trip back to Invercargill Kennedy threw the registration plates out the window. Once home, he burnt his clothes and two cellphones.

Miss Fry said although the family knew and accepted Kennedy was not responsible for Mr Fry's death, he was inextricably entwined in the events that followed his death.

She said by burning his car, Kennedy had diverted police attention and created an air of mystery surrounding her brother's death, leading to nationwide media interest and much speculation. Her family played out a variety of scenarios in their heads in an attempt to understand what had happened.

"The death was so simple it was ludicrous. Kennedy's actions were so out of proportion to what he had done," she said.

Miss Fry described her brother as a loyal and devoted friend and son who lived life to the fullest.

In handing down sentence Judge Phillips said he accepted Kennedy had originally driven off in a panic but his attempts afterwards to avoid responsibility were calculated and planned. And even though he told his mother what had happened two days later, it was another three days before Kennedy went to police.

"You focused on your children and not on how the family of the man lying on the road would feel."

The judge sentenced Kennedy to six months' home detention, 150 hours' community work and disqualified him from driving for nine months.

Last month Gent, 35, was jailed for 26 months for the hit-and-run killing after earlier admitting careless driving causing death, perverting the course of justice, failing to render assistance after an accident, and failing to report an injury accident.

- NZPA