The man responsible for a crash near Rotorua that injured eight Opotiki Primary School staff, leaving one of them a paraplegic, has pleaded guilty.
Patariki Kiel-Bidois, a first-time offender, pleaded guilty to eight charges of careless driving causing injury when he appeared in the Whakatāne District Court before Judge Christopher Harding yesterday.
He was convicted and will reappear for sentencing on September 9.
The judge asked for victim impact statements to be available at this time from all the injured women.
According to the police summary of facts, the crash happened on December 17 at about 5.10pm as Kiel-Bidois was driving his Ford vehicle west on State Highway 30 at Rotoma.