Driver cops abuse at sentencing

Abuse was hurled at a man from the gallery of a Taranaki courtroom after he was sentenced for careless driving which resulted in death.

Yesterday, Michael Ken Martin appeared before Judge Chris Sygrove at the New Plymouth District Court on two counts of careless or inconsiderate vehicle operation causing injury.

The offending relates to the death of Wallace Noel Flay, who was killed on impact when a light truck driven by Martin crossed the centreline and smashed into his ute in November, 2017.

The truck careened off State Highway 3, near New Plymouth Airport, crashing into a cyclist.

Martin, 27, and the cyclist escaped serious injury but 39-year-old Flay, a father-of-two, died instantly.

Sygrove, who had previously deferred the case to seek advice on an appropriate outcome, sentenced Martin to 160 hours community work, disqualified him from driving for one year and one day and ordered he pay $5000 emotional harm reparation to Flay’s family.

He noted the man had no previous convictions, had attended four defensive driving sessions since the crash and had engaged in a restorative justice meeting with the cyclist involved. Judge Chris Sygrove

As the defendant left the dock a woman yelled to him from the gallery: ‘‘pig’’.

‘‘Rot in hell you murderer.’’

In his earlier address, Sygrove noted there were a number of Flay’s loved ones in the gallery, some who may have believed the charges did not fit the crime.

‘‘They may wonder why the penalty is not more severe,’’ he said.

‘‘That is not for me to comment on except to say that if the police thought the offending justified a more serious charge they will do so – they clearly do not and I accept that.’’

However, he said the consequences of Martin’s actions were catastrophic.

It is believed that either driver error, fatigue or distraction led to him crossing the centreline.

‘‘I accept without hesitation that it was not a deliberate act,’’ Sygrove said.

‘‘You have been traumatised by what took place ... effectively you have been personally sentenced.’’

He said Martin would carry that for the rest of his life.