Father jailed for killing young son
A mother says she will forever question what was going through her 6-year-old son’s mind the moments before he was killed by his father in a fiery crash.
Niklas Gebhardt was jailed for five years by Justice Jan-Marie Doogue in the High Court in Christchurch yesterday after he had earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He will be disqualified from driving for seven years upon release from prison.
The 32-year-old was driving up to 130kph on November 5, 2019, when his car vaulted off a stopbank in North Canterbury, smashing into a tree 24 metres away, bursting into flames and killing his son, Lachlan.
The bend had an advisory speed limit of 25kph but Gebhardt did not brake or attempt to slow the car as he approached it.
Lachlan’s mum, Kim Manson, began her victim impact statement, read out by a Crown prosecutor, by saying her son would forever remain only 6 years old due to the ‘‘selfish act of a coward that Lachlan called his dad.
‘‘The other person in his life that he trusted and was meant to care for him, nurture him and do him no harm.’’
She described Lachlan as ‘‘the most beautiful, sweet kid you could ever ask to have’’.
Manson and Gebhardt had shared custody of Lachlan. When Lachlan was with Gebhardt, Manson said she missed him ‘‘so much’’, and would be planning their next adventure for when he got home. ‘‘Now I have been robbed of any more time with my son to make memories. All we have are the precious memories made in six short years.’’
Manson said she believed her ex-partner’s actions, who she only referred to as ‘‘the defendant’’ and ‘‘this monster’’, were ‘‘planned and calculated’’. She understood Gebhardt had been convicted of manslaughter, but said she would always believe it was murder. She said there were no brake marks, and no attempt to mitigate the impact in any way.
‘‘Just the defendant’s foot on the accelerator with the determination to kill them both that day.’’
She believed Gebhardt’s intent was to inflict as much pain as possible on her, and that he did not believe he would survive the crash and have to face the consequences.
The days after Lachlan’s death were a ‘‘blur’’, she said. ‘‘I have been told I was basically catatonic for the days directly after the police told me my sweet boy was gone, lying in his bed smelling his blankets my heart was literally broken,’’ she said.
Knowing the way Lachlan died made it even worse, she said.
‘‘I will forever question what was going through his mind as they hurtled down the road. Was he scared? Did he try telling the defendant to slow down?
‘‘Was he conscious at the time the car caught fire, and he was burnt to death inside? To have any peace in my mind I have to tell myself that he was unconscious and didn’t feel any pain.
‘‘I will always have the question [of] why? Why not just do it to yourself?’’
She believed Gebhardt did not take accountability for his actions, rather that he had run out of options to avoid jail.
‘‘The defendant made a decision that day in my opinion, and that decision had a consequence resulting in my son’s death. He took an innocent 6-year-old boy’s life that day – and not just some boy, but his only son.’’
Crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh said that while it was accepted that no murderous intent could be attributed to Gebhardt, the evidence pointed to ‘‘deliberate driving conduct’’.
The case was in a ‘‘very different category of manslaughter’’, he said.
Gebhardt’s lawyer, Andrew McCormick, acknowledged the ‘‘absolute tragedy’’ of what had happened but said what happened was ‘‘not murder’’.
He said there were several mitigating factors including the injuries he suffered, with burns to his body a ‘‘daily reminder of this tragic incident’’.
Before the crash he was a sportsman of ‘‘some real significance, a good man, well-liked, a family man’’, McCormick said.
‘‘This accident has turned all of those factors on its head … he stands before you now a broken man.’’
Justice Doogue said despite the fact that no murderous intent could be attributed, the only available conclusion was he aimed to drive his vehicle in a manner that was ‘‘highly likely’’ to cause injury or death to both him and his son.