Teen says crash that killed his mum will haunt him forever

Kristy King arrives at court this morning. Photo / NZPA

The teenaged son of a woman who died after an out-of-control driver smashed into a group of cyclists and killed three of them has described the scene of roadside carnage which will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Kristy King, 24, was today sentenced to 300 hours' community work and ordered to pay $30,000 to the victims' families, or to charity, after previously pleading guilty to three charges of dangerous driving causing death.

Mark Andrew Ferguson, 46, and Wilhelm Muller, 71, were killed in the crash south of Morrinsville on November 14, and Kay Heather Wolfe, 45, died several days later in Waikato Hospital.

Mrs Wolfe's 18-year-old son Gavin read out one of seven moving victim impact statements to the court today, which evoked sobs from the packed public gallery in Morrinsville District Court.

Mr Wolfe was one of the group of 10 cyclists riding that Sunday morning, and witnessed King's Mazda Familia lose control and start to skid toward the group, whose members were riding in single file.

"As soon as I saw the car coming around the corner I knew it was going to take them out.

"I saw glass, people and small pieces of people flying all around me."

Mr Wolf said it took all his cycling ability to get out of the way of the car, which missed him "by a matter of feet".

The scene was like "something out of Black Hawk Down", where one of his friends lay on the ground with his leg ripped off. He found his mother, her arm nearly severed, having broken nearly every bone in her body, and felt totally helpless because her injuries were so severe.

Mr Wolfe said he had to try and keep a cool head and contact emergency services because the rest of the group was too distraught by the horror of the scene to be much help - even an experienced police officer who was among the riders was weeping inconsolably.

"Then when I had a shower I found little pieces of someone's body on me.

"This will haunt me for the rest of my life," he said.

None of the victims called for a prison sentence to be imposed on King, who wept in the dock as victim impact statements were read out.

Her lawyer, Paul Gascoigne, said she did not intend to get behind the wheel of a car ever again. She no longer socialised, like other people her age, preferring to spend all her time at work or home, where she usually retreated to her bedroom.

King accepted the damp road conditions did not contribute to the crash and she accepted full responsibility, Mr Gascoigne said.

"It was a momentary loss of control, but as this highlights, it only takes a moment for such a catastrophic event to occur."

Judge Arthur Tompkins said he took into account the wishes of the families that she did not go to jail when imposing the sentence.

There was no evidence before the court that speed, alcohol, or other factors, like using a cellphone, contributed to the crash and King's culpability was at the low end, he said.

He also disqualified King from driving for 12 months.

Members of the victims' families embraced King after she was sentenced and could be heard saying "all the best for the future".

- NZPA