Court: Witness saw rider go 'careening over' ute in fatal motorcycle crash

Charged with driving dangerously causing death, James Hiroki and Carey Leask were in Whanganui District Court for day two of their Judge alone trial. Photo / File

A witness says he watched in his rearview mirror as a ute and trailer jackknifed, sending a motorcycle rider careening over the top of it and killing him.

Daniel Goodwin was driving home to Hamilton with three friends when he saw James Nelson's motorcycle collide with two vehicles near Ohingaiti on November 12, 2017.

Nelson's friends, James Hiroki and Carey Leask, alleged to be Highway 61 gang members by a Crown witness, have pleaded not guilty to driving dangerously causing his death.

On day two of their trial at Whanganui District Court, Goodwin said the weather was fine as he travelled north along a straight stretch of road on State Highway 1 at approximately 6.30pm.

He was aware of a ute towing a trailer behind him and then three motorbikes that were approaching near Ohingaiti, 16km north of Hunterville.

"The first motorbike drifted across the centre line. We were heading towards him, so I had to swerve out of the way," Goodwin said.

Goodwin estimated that the first motorcycle was 0.5-1m away from the Mitsubishi Pajero that they were travelling in when it passed them.

He does not remember exactly where the second motorcycle was, but claimed it was definitely on his side of the road.

When he looked back in his rear-view mirror, Goodwin saw the ute and trailer behind him had lost control and it was jackknifing.

"The two motorbikes had a chance to go around the ute and trailer as it jackknifed. The third didn't seem to stop," Goodwin said.

"It hit the back of the ute and the rider went careening over the top. Then a white car hit the ute and it bursts into flames on impact."

The remaining two riders passed the Pajero, Goodwin slowed down, stopped about 200m away from the scene and ran back to offer help.

He saw somebody placing a blanket over the deceased as he arrived at the scene and dialled 111.

Judge Bruce Davidson was presiding when the court heard the testimony of Crown witness Daniel Goodwin who witnessed the fatal motorcycle crash. Photo / File

Lawyer for the defence Simon Hewson asked Goodwin if the vehicle travelling behind them would have been travelling at about the same speed as he was.

Goodwin said he believed so and confirmed that it was a black Colorado he had identified following them from checking his mirrors.

He said he swerved left seconds before the motorcycles passed them and when asked by Hewson, could not recall any vehicles ahead of him at the time.

"You had a clear road to drive on, [you] just had to stay on the road?" Hewson asked.

"[The motorcycle] may not have hit you, but you took comfort from swerving to the left?"

"Correct," Goodwin replied to both.

Goodwin confirmed he could only assume the ute had been forced to swerve left, mounting the grass verge on the left side of the northbound lane.

Earlier, a Crown witness told the court about a collision she was involved in with a motorcycle the same day that Nelson passed away.

Erica Bak was travelling alone from Palmerston North to Rotorua on SH1 just past Turangi when the incident occurred.

Bak had passed the Motuoapa Bay Holiday Park and was slowing down for a tight bend with a recommended speed of 25km/h when a motorcycle passed her.

As she rounded the bend, Bak alleges that a second motorcycle was coming around and that it was on her side of the road. The Crown alleges this was Hiroki.

"It was going to hit me fair and square in the middle of my bonnet, so I took evasive action. I moved as far to the left as I possibly could without going into the lake.

"He came right down the side of my car. His footpeg punched out my tyre. In my side mirror I watched him thinking he was going to fall off, but he wobbled and fishtailed and drove off."

Bak could not remember what sort of clothes the first or second rider were wearing, but thought the motorcycle she collided with was a cruiser type.

She said that the second rider had a German-style helmet on and a scarf that came up over his mouth and across his nose.

Bak pulled into a small gravel area close to where the incident occurred, another vehicle followed her in and a man changed her tyre.

She said the incident definitely occurred at 4.45pm.

The panels on the right side of her vehicle were all damaged and a hubcap fell off.

The trial before Judge Bruce Davidson continues on Wednesday and is expected to take at least five days.