Victim's family save crash driver from jail

Forgiveness by the family of a man killed in a car crash on Christchurch's Summit Road has saved the driver - an Asian student - from a jail term.

Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders yesterday sentenced Guoshuo Yang to 250 hours' community work.

He said the lengthy term of community work would be more punitive than a short term of imprisonment "and a reminder to you on a weekly basis of your error of judgment".

Yang, 20, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing the death of Zhongheng Ding and injuring three of his other passengers when he failed to take a corner and the car rolled 200m down a slope and plunged over a 20m cliff.

Mr Ding was thrown from the car and died of high-impact injuries.

Defence lawyer Phillip Allan said Yang's inexperience of driving and the roads in the hills above Christchurch led to the crash on September 7.

The spot where the accident happened, above Heathcote, had been described by residents as "an accident waiting to happen".

Judge Saunders said Yang had taken the group sightseeing at night, but they would have been anxious about the speed and manner of his driving. "One wonders what benefit they could have achieved by way of sight-seeing."

The careless use causing death charge carried a maximum sentence of three months' jail, he noted.

He imposed the community work term, disqualified Yang from driving for 18 months and ordered him to pay $5000 to the family of the man killed in the accident, for emotional harm.

"You are saved from imprisonment by the forgiving views of the parents of the deceased man. They have forgiven you for what has been a very tragic event in their lives. This was their only son, somebody they expected to do well at university - somebody they could be proud of," said the judge.

Yang's parents had arranged for the $5000 to be paid.

His permit to study in New Zealand has been revoked and he now has to decide whether to appeal.

- NZPA