A 25-year-old Wanganui man who killed two motorcyclists in a crash in Taranaki last year has been sentenced to four months' home detention.
Owen Michael Brian Parnell was also ordered to pay reparations of $28,000 when he appeared in the Hawera District Court before Judge Gerard Lynch yesterday.
Parnell was charged with two counts of careless driving causing death and four counts of careless driving causing injury in the December 1 crash near Normanby, north of Hawera. He had admitted the charges at an earlier court appearance.
Parnell was driving a van carrying five passengers, who were sitting on a sofa unrestrained, when he swerved to avoid a turning car and veered into the path of several motorcycles on a charity ride. Two of the motorcyclists, Gordon McKay and Kelly Reardon, died in the accident and four people were injured including two of Parnell's passengers.
The court heard Parnell has been in a wheelchair since the accident and defence counsel Debbie Goodlet said he had been hopeful he would be able to walk again, but she said after a recent doctor's visit that "may not even be possible".