Cars not speeding, ‘they were flying’

He saw them coming. He couldn’t do anything about it.

The driver of a van that smashed into a car, that went out of control during an alleged street race, has spoken about the seconds he experienced just before the moment of impact on the night of June 24, 2016.

The man, who cannot be identified, was giving evidence in a High Court manslaughter trial in Hamilton, where two men are facing charges that they caused the deaths of the four occupants in another vehicle by illegally racing against them.

Dylan Cossey, 20, allegedly fled from the crash site near Hamilton Airport with passenger Stephen John Jones, 20.

The pair face four counts each of manslaughter relating to the deaths of Hannah Leis StrickettCraze, 24, Lance Tyrone Robinson, 28, and Paul De Silva, 20, from Waipa, and Jason McCormick Ross, 19, from Taranaki, all of whom died after the car went out of control and crashed.

The alleged race between the Honda Integra Cossey was driving, and the Nissan Skyline the four who died were travelling in, reached estimated speeds of more than 150kmh. It came to a sudden end when the Nissan collided with an oncoming van about 10pm that night.

Both Cossey and Jones have also been charged with causing injury to the van’s driver and failing to stop to ascertain injury. The van driver, who works as a plumber and gasfitter, suffered multiple leg fractures and had to be cut from his vehicle.

Giving evidence during the trial’s second day yesterday, he said he had been heading back to his home near Matangi after attending an emergency callout in Glenview.

The man was approaching the roundabout southwest of the airport when he saw the headlights of two cars coming rapidly towards him.

One appeared to be passing the other and had moved into his lane. Suddenly he realised the headlights were moving in a sideto-side motion. ‘‘I saw the car was fishtailing. I think it fishtailed, maybe three times ... It ended up in my lane with the headlights pointed towards the airport.’’

He barely had time to react before his Toyota Hi-Ace van slammed into the car. ‘‘I moved my foot off the accelerator and onto the brake. I don’t think I had time to press down on the brake.’’

A woman who also gave evidence was so shocked by two cars that sped past her as she was driving towards Hamilton that she blurted out ‘‘pack of f...ing idiots’’ in surprise.

Moments later she came across the scene of the crash. See did not see the other car.

The woman, who has name suppression, said she had just passed through Ohaupo and was heading north when two white-coloured cars ‘‘flew past’’ at speed. ‘‘One minute they were there, the next they were gone over the hill,’’ she said.

Once she reached the crest of the hill looking down on a straight stretch of road before her, the two cars had already travelled out of sight.

Soon after she found the scene of the collision southwest of Hamilton Airport.

The van was sitting in the middle of the road and the wreckage of the Skyline was on the righthand side of the road.

The woman’s daughter, who also cannot be named, was in the car with her. She also gave evidence.

‘‘They flew past us, to the point that my mum’s car shook.’’

Later, under cross examination by defence counsel Russell Boot, the woman said: ‘‘They weren’t speeding, they were flying’’.

The trial, before Justice Anne Hinton, began on Monday. It is estimated it will run for two weeks.

The public gallery on the first day was packed with supporters of both the accused men and friends and family of the dead.

Jones is also charged with one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice. That charge relates to his alleged editing of an iPhone video he took of the crash and the moments leading up to it, removing 20 seconds of incriminating evidence before handing his phone in to police.