Driver sentenced over fatal motorcycle crash
A chain of events that saw a Motueka driver return home before starting work early in the morning, ended in the death of a young man on his way to work.
Brent James Cooke, 58, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to a charge of careless driving causing the death of 19-year-old Thomas James Armit last October.
A police summary of facts detailed how Cooke, a self-employed commercial cleaner, left his home in Motueka at 5.28am on October 9 to collect a staff member before heading to work.
Realising he was early, he decided to drive across town to pick up a set of keys that had been left in a letterbox.
Unable to find them, he started to return to his home address. He stopped on Thorp St to check his cellphone.
Around 5.45am he continued along Thorp St. At the same time, Armit was travelling in the opposite direction on his motorcycle, towards agribusiness company Talley’s Group in Port Motueka.
The road was wet with light rain falling. It was still dark with sunrise not expected for another hour.
Cooke cut the corner as he turned into Glenavon Drive and failed to indicate. He didn’t see Armit travelling towards him on his motorbike.
Armit saw Cooke turn in front of him and applied his rear brake but was unable to avoid a collision, his bike impacting with the front left wheel area of Cooke’s vehicle.
Upon impact, Armit’s motorcycle spun 180 degrees before coming to rest on its right hand side near the impact area. The crash caused Armit’s helmet to collide with Cooke’s windscreen and he ended up 15 metres from where the impact occurred.
Armit suffered multiple fatal injuries and died at the scene.
Cooke was sentenced in the Nelson District Court and disqualified from driving for 12 months, sentenced to 200 hours’ community work and ordered to pay a $20,000 emotional harm reparation payment.
Armit was described at the time by Talley’s Group spokesman Nathan Howes as ‘‘a lovely guy who was well liked by both his peers and supervisors’’.
Armit left Motueka High School at the end of 2016 and principal John Prestidge said he was ‘‘a reliable, positive and polite young man’’ who was popular among both students and staff. ‘‘The tragedy of his loss is huge, given that he was a young man keen on taking the leap from school into the adult world of work and independence and he was certainly taking on that challenge.’’