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An Auckland High Court judge broke down today as he read out victim impact statements at the sentencing of a man who drove his car into a crowd last year, killing two people.
Justice Hugh Williams was overcome with emotion and forced to stop, as he recounted how the deaths of Melissa Viall, 23 and Kane Wright, 19, had impacted on friends and family following a "few minutes of motoring mayhem".
Darin Gardner, 25, was found guilty by a jury in September on two counts of murder arising from an incident outside a 21st birthday party in the Auckland suburb of Pakuranga in October 2006 .
Today he was jailed for life with a non-parole period of 18-1/2 years.
The court was told Gardner twice drove at a group of people fighting early on October 8.
Miss Viall was killed instantly while going to aid Mr Wright, who had been knocked down by the car.
Mr Wright died in hospital the next day.
Gardner said he was trying to help a friend and co-accused, Anton Degraaff, who was being attacked and who he thought was going to be killed.
Gardner was also sentenced to 15 months as a party to injury and two years for injuring with intent.
Degraaff was found guilty of injuring with intent and today was jailed for 2-1/2 years and 12 months for being a party to injury.
All sentences are to be served concurrently.
Neither man showed any emotion as they were sentenced.
A strong police and security presence was evident in the court today after ugly scenes erupted between the family and friends of the victims and the accused, following the verdict.
Today about 50 people sat in the gallery, with many becoming more emotional and vocal as the sentencing progressed.
Crown prosecutor Aaron Perkins said the families were still struggling to come to terms with their loss.
"A few minutes of disgraceful conduct has led to a tremendous amount of harm."
Mr Perkins said he found it hard to believe either men felt genuine remorse for their actions.
A letter from Degraaff was read, saying how he had spent his teenage years "recklessly drinking" and describing how by the end of the trial he had felt ashamed of his actions.
Gardner's lawyer Gary Gotlieb, who broke down as he made his submissions, said many lives had been ruined but Gardner felt genuine remorse.
Mr Gotlieb said the deaths of Miss Viall and Mr Wright were not "traditional murders" .
As he spoke of the impact a lengthy jail sentence would have on Gardner, Mr Wright's father called out from the gallery , causing Mr Gotlieb to stop.
Mr Gotlieb told Justice Williams he felt intimidated by the calls from the gallery and he believed the jury had also.
Justice Williams said he had no basis to believe the jury had been intimidated and people were entitled to react.
Justice Williams told Gardner that even now it was not clear what possessed him to drive through the crowd for a second time that night .
The victim impact statements made "harrowing reading", he said.
Justice Williams struggled through some of the statements before finally breaking down when he reached the statement from Mr Wright's girlfriend Angela Lincoln.
The murders involved a high degree of brutality and Gardner had shown callous indifference towards his victims, the judge said.
Gardner must have known that when he turned the car around for the second time that he had seriously hurt people, he said.
Outside the court Miss Viall's father Gary, fighting back tears, told media the family would try to rebuild their lives.
"It's given us a life sentence."
Mr Viall said his wife was finding it particularly difficult.
Sharon and Tony Wright said they missed everything about their son and were taking it one day at a time.
Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Lynch said the sentence reflected the seriousness of the murders, despite suggestions by defence that they were not true murders.
Mr Lynch said over the past several years there had been three or four incidents of people using cars as weapons.
"This is certainly a deterrent for those people who might consider that course of action while they are intoxicated."
A car was every bit as lethal as a firearm, he said.
- NZPA
