Driver in fatal crash jailed

A recidivist drink-driver claims he cannot remember hitting a woman and leaving her dead on the side of the road.

But that did not stop him from cleaning the blood from the front of his car and attempting to hide it from police.

Peter Anthony Laurence Atkinson, 42, was sentenced in the High Court at Whanganui on Friday to four years and eight months behind bars for the manslaughter of Jeanettemay Gibbs.

He must serve the sentence without parole. Atkinson has 40 convictions for child-sex offending and drink-driving. This is his sixth stint in prison since 2005.

The latest incident began on November 9, when Atkinson was drinking at the Bason Reserve in Whanganui.

He then decided to drive after an argument with an associate.

Justice Francis Cooke said Atkinson and a female passenger were weaving between lanes at an excessive speed along Anzac Parade.

Shortly after 6pm, he collided with Gibbs’ scooter near the Georgetti Rd intersection. Gibbs was thrown from the scooter and died from her injuries.

Despite pleas from the passenger, Atkinson failed to stop and check on Gibbs.

He stopped 1.3 kilometres up the road to kick the passenger out of the car. He left her on the road and kept driving.

Atkinson later used his shirt to clean Gibbs’ blood from the front of his car.

Police eventually found him, and his breath-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

Gibbs’ family chose not to attend the sentencing. But, in a statement read to the court, her son Paul said he had struggled with the thought of never seeing his mother again.

Gibbs had a ‘‘close and caring’’ relationship with her sons and grandchildren, the judge said.

‘‘That is something you must carry with you for the rest of your life,’’ he told Atkinson.

Atkinson witnessed his father beat his mother when he was a child. She left his father when he was 6.

He has limited education and has battled a lifelong addiction with alcohol to suppress the memories.

He began drinking, and smoking cigarettes and cannabis, when he was 14.

‘‘That was the start of a life of alcohol abuse,’’ the judge said.

‘‘When you are triggered, you turn to alcohol and become violent. You said you are dependent on alcohol. It is always on your mind. You said the only time you are happy is when you are drinking.’’

He became a father at 19 and has 11 children to five women.

A pre-sentence report stated he was a high risk of reoffending.

Atkinson was sentenced on charges of manslaughter and drink-driving.