Broken bones, broken trust

Trust and bones were broken the day a group of students were injured in a trailer crash at a Horowhenua high school.

Four students at Horowhenua College were injured in an incident in April, when a vehicle pulling a trailer containing students rolled.

The driver, Dylan Stuart Kiriona, 43, was discharged without conviction in the Levin District Court yesterday on two charges: careless driving and careless driving causing injury. Three charges of careless driving causing injury were withdrawn.

But the mother of one of the students, whose name is suppressed, felt as if they had been guilt-tripped as victims. In her victim impact statement, she said trust was broken as a result of the crash because there had not been a great deal of accountability.

The statement said fingers had been pointed at the students on the trailer for leaning over and the family had not received a direct apology.

‘‘You were in charge of the students’ safety that day, yet even after your poor choices led to the crash, your concern seemed to be in downplaying it, rather than getting the injured the care they needed.’’

The student’s victim impact statement, provided to Stuff, said the students were told to get in the trailer for a fun ride and not given any safety instructions, except to hold on.

‘‘I remember the trailer lent over to the left and I was flung out to the side. I blacked out momentarily and woke up screaming.’’

The student broke an arm in the crash.

The woman’s children had been bullied by those who believed Kiriona was the victim. ‘‘It has been isolating being too afraid to speak honestly in fear of further backlash,’’ she said.

Defence lawyer Renee Bayer told the court Kiriona wanted to go through restorative justice.

‘‘It’s something he does want to address for the relationship between him and the victim and the community. There is a lot of hurt for a lot of people.’’

She said Kiriona had immediately offered to help the victims, was a person of good character and well regarded in the community. He was remorseful and had pleaded guilty, as well as taking steps to make amends, including attending a school whā nau hui.

The school completed an investigation that resulted in a number of new policies, while WorkSafe also investigated and was happy with the school’s process, Bayer said.

A conviction would have affected Kiriona’s role as a teacher, she added.

Judge Philip Recordon said the seriousness of what happened could not be overstated.

‘‘As the family have said, their was trust broken and they don’t feel like that’s been addressed properly.’’

But Recordon said it was clear that Kiriona was a person of good character and submissions showed he was a good teacher.