Teenager pleads guilty to girlfriend's death

Craig with daughter Samantha Sinclair. Photo / Supplied

A teenage driver has pleaded guilty to causing the death of his girlfriend.

Samantha Sinclair was 17 and her whole life lay ahead of her. It was midsummer and Samantha had just started a gap year between school and a marine biology degree at Auckland University. Life was good. She had a job, a new boyfriend, and loads of friends.

But there had been hardship and heartache in her life.

In 1995 her baby sister Sarah Jayne died in the womb at 23 weeks and her mum, Pam, died of cancer in 2007. Despite that, Samantha had blossomed into a lovely and friendly, intelligent young woman.

But on February 17 all that was ripped away as boyfriend and fellow Pak'n' Save staffer Arran Christopher Rainbow slammed his car into a power pole on a stretch of road just a few kilometres from his home in Coatesville, north of Auckland.

Ten minutes after the crash, soon after 10pm, Samantha's life ebbed out of her.

This week Rainbow pleaded guilty to careless driving causing Samantha's death and will be sentenced in August. He is said to be devastated by the crash and, although he didn't want to talk about it he confirmed he was considering sharing his experience with school students. Samantha's father Craig Sinclair has managed to forgive Rainbow, 18, and holds no grudge - but the pain is raw and constant.

"I'm devastated by losing my only child," he said.

Rainbow has told him Samantha was pinned down on the floor of the Nissan Skyline and never regained consciousness.

"The last thing she did was smile," said Sinclair.

She wasn't wearing a seatbelt but police told Sinclair the crash would probably have been unsurvivable anyway.

But the crash could have been avoided. Although only Rainbow knew what really happened that night, from what Sinclair had been told, it boiled down to an inexperienced driver on a wet road overcorrecting then losing control.

"He was driving a powerful car. At 18 I had a Honda Civic," Sinclair said. "It was so unlucky that he hit the damn lamppost."

This weekend Sinclair, team leader of Auckland Domain's nursery and Winter Gardens, planned to plant a guava tree in Samantha's memory.

Sinclair split from Samantha's mother several years ago but father and daughter remained close, like "best mates", he said. She was caring, smart and shared his love of carnivorous plants.

"She was articulate, had a great sense of humour. She turned out fantastic, with a really good heart," he said.