Victims of dangerous driver brand him a coward for fleeing the scene and leaving them to die

Glyn Ackroyd appeared in Whanganui District Court on Friday for sentencing on three charges of dangerous driving causing injury. Photo / Bevan Conley

A driver who fled the scene after speeding through an intersection and causing a serious crash, injuring three people, has been branded a coward by his victims.

Glyn David Ackroyd, a director of Man Handy Ltd, appeared before Judge Bruce Davidson in the Whanganui District Court on Friday for sentencing on three charges of dangerous driving causing injury.

It was the second time he had appeared for sentencing after the judge adjourned the first attempt in September because the defence submissions had only been received that day and he had not had the time to go over them.

Brothers Shayne and Adrian Gowan were in the car Ackroyd slammed into about 7pm on December 23, 2021, when he failed to give way and raced through the intersection of Hinau St and Mosston Rd.

Ackroyd continued on then stopped in a nearby empty lot and fled the scene on foot, leaving his injured passenger in his ute.

When spoken to by police the following day Ackroyd initially denied he was driving, telling officers his friend had jumped in the driver's set and drove off through the intersection before claiming he couldn't remember who was driving.

Shayne Gowan suffered a concussion and cuts to his arms and hands from broken glass and remained in hospital for two days while Adrian Gowan sustained serious injuries including collapsed lungs, fractures to his spine and pelvis, a ruptured hemidiaphragm, broken jaw and a displaced spleen and stomach in his left chest wall.

Adrian required urgent surgery to repair the injured organs and was admitted to the critical care unit at Whanganui Hospital before being transferred to ICU in Wellington for observation. He is still undergoing treatment.

In his victim impact statement, read out by his stepfather who called Ackroyd a coward, Adrian said he had no memory of the crash, just the pain and suffering he has had to endure ever since.

He had to wear a neck brace for six weeks, was in a wheelchair for six weeks and had to use crutches for a further six weeks while he learned to walk again.

He had three metal plates inserted into his jaw and had to eat soft food for four months.

Due to the injuries Adrian received in the crash he had to give up his part-time job and is now on a benefit.

He had no energy, was tired all of the time, there was nerve damage to his right hand, he couldn't sleep on his left side and there was no end to the pain.

"It just goes on and on. I hope you get the sentence you deserve but it won't be as long as the life sentence you have given me."

The damage to the front of Glyn Ackroyd's ute shows the force of the impact after he sped through an intersection and smashed into another car. Photo / Supplied

The brothers' mother Patricia said it was a mother's worst nightmare to see her sons in hospital, one covered in blood and the other groaning in agony.

"You then ran away leaving them to die, only worried about yourself."

She said Adrian was as close to death as possible, the family were told he might not survive the flight to Wellington and she didn't think he would ever fully recover.

"I will never forgive you for what you have done and the callous way you acted after the accident."

Shayne's statement described the torment he had endured watching his brother go through the needless pain and suffering.

Defence lawyer Anna Brosnahan said Ackroyd was remorseful and felt ashamed of what he had done.

"He is horrified that he has caused these injuries," Brosnahan said.

She acknowledged there was no way the sentencing process could put right the pain and suffering caused by the injuries or the ongoing emotional harm.

Brosnahan said Ackroyd offered a payment of emotional harm reparation to the family which could be made immediately.

She said Ackroyd's passenger Bruce Grant, who received bruising to his body and was discharged from hospital the day after the crash, has since died from an unrelated cause.

Judge Davidson said the victim impact statements demonstrated the serious consequences the family faced after the crash from the life-threatening and life-changing injuries.

He noted Ackroyd claimed he had suffered an unspecified medical event months before the crash and was taking medication at the time, which Ackroyd suspected contributed to his offending.

A sentence start point of 18 months' imprisonment was adopted but after discounts for his guilty plea, remorse and offer of emotional harm reparation it was reduced to 10 months.

Judge Davidson then converted the sentence to six months' community detention, with a curfew from 9pm to 5am daily, disqualified Ackroyd from driving for 13 months and ordered him to pay $5000 emotional harm reparation immediately.