Prison for drugged driver in fatal crash
‘‘I am filled with so much anger and hatred from what you have stolen from us. At no time have we heard any expression of remorse for your actions.’’
Karen Dow, victim’s mother
The mother of a man killed in a crash with a driver affected by methamphetamine has told a court of the ‘‘enormous void’’ left in her family.
Takaka woman Alicia Fulcher-Poole, 28, was sentenced in the Nelson District Court on Wednesday on five charges, including driving causing death while under the influence of drugs. She has been sentenced to 31⁄2 years in prison.
Canterbury man Matthew Dow, 23, was killed in the crash near Nelson on New Year’s Eve last year.
Judge Tony Zohrab said Fulcher-Poole had been driving erratically for a sustained period before the crash. The court heard she had used meth the previous night.
In a victim impact statement read out to the court, Dow’s mother, Karen Dow said, ‘‘nothing will ease the grief of losing my much-loved son’’.
She said Fulcher-Poole made a selfish decision that day to consume drugs, drink alcohol and get into a vehicle, which made it a weapon.
‘‘I am filled with so much anger and hatred from what you have stolen from us. At no time have we heard any expression of remorse for your actions.’’
Karen Dow said her son was a young man who was full of potential and always thought of others before himself.
Since his death, she was no longer in fulltime employment, as she struggled to keep up with the demands of a job, and she feared for the wellbeing of Matthew’s siblings as they dealt with their grief.
‘‘Each day is a battle to survive. There are so many chapters to be rewritten.’’
The judge gave Fulcher-Poole a discount on her sentence, partly because of her family situation. She has two young children and is expecting another child in December.
Other charges included two of causing injury to passengers while under the influence of drugs, and two relating to the neglect of children who were unrestrained at the time of the accident.
Witnesses described seeing Fulcher-Poole’s vehicle being driven erratically and aggressively along the Coastal Highway before the accident.
Judge Zohrab said FulcherPoole was seen driving with a can of bourbon in hand, but she had disputed this, and he could not
conclude whether it was a factor in the crash.
Several bourbon cans and cannabis plants were discovered at the crash site, and a car seat was found 43 metres away from the vehicle. Emergency services at the scene described a 100m stretch of debris that included children’s gear and bikes.
The judge said that immediately before the impact, Fulcher-Poole had been distracted and following the vehicle in front too closely. The driver of that vehicle had indicated and slowed to turn into a road, causing Fulcher-Poole to swerve into the opposite lane, resulting in the fatal collision with Dow’s vehicle.
‘‘Because you were not observing the road rules, you were not driving in accordance with the two-second rule, you have had to take evasive action, and that is what has led to the crash.’’ Judge Zohrab said the crash was not an accident in the classic sense, because Fulcher-Poole had also chosen to consume methamphetamine and alcohol and was sleepdeprived before getting behind the wheel. While the use of methamphetamine was a significant component, it was the aggressive driving that had contributed to the crash, he said.
‘‘This is not a momentary lapse of judgment, this is a persistent case of bad driving.’’ Fulcher-Poole initially pleaded not guilty to the charges when she appeared in court in April, but changed her plea to guilty in August.