Guilty of manslaughter
Man encouraged his cousin to drink and flee police before fatal South Canterbury crash
An Australian man encouraged his cousin to keep drinking vodka and flee police before they crashed near Tekapo, colliding with a ute and killing both drivers instantly.
Mark Edward Hayden, 53, pleaded guilty to manslaughter when he appeared in the High Court at Christchurch yesterday . His conviction relates to the death of his cousin, Stephen Hayden, and the driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash, 72-year-old Nigel Stuart Freeman.
The crash happened on July 3, 2017, while the cousins and three friends were in New Zealand for a heli-skiing holiday near Aoraki/Mt Cook. The five men flew from Melbourne to Christchurch the day before and rented two Toyota Highlander vehicles.
The attendant at the car rental company noticed Stephen Hayden appeared intoxicated, but was assured he was not going to be driving that evening.
Just after 1am, an airport security officer saw someone driving one of the vehicles at speed around the airport car park with its boot open.
Police were called a short time later when the vehicle was seen parked over the entrance of the Christchurch Casino car park in Victoria St. The car was damaged on the left side and the front left tyre was flat.
The Haydens had left the vehicle there and been taken away in the second vehicle. They were stopped by police on Peterborough St and Stephen Hayden recorded a breath alcohol reading of 1015mg per litre of breath. The legal limit is 250mg. He was taken to the Christchurch Central police station before returning to the group’s hotel.
Police were called again about 3am when the person believed to have been driving the Highlander left at the casino returned and drove it away.
The group headed to the Mackenzie district later that morning, with Stephen Hayden driving one vehicle with his cousin in the passenger seat.
He was seen to lose traction when he hit snow on State Highway 8 between Fairlie and Tekapo. The vehicle slid sideways and the back wheels spun before the vehicle went back on the road.
A witness said the driver was ‘‘smiling and appearing to have fun’’.
One of the Haydens’ friends noticed Stephen Hayden was drunk and there was a bottle of vodka in his car. He tried to stop Hayden driving, but he sped away.
Mark Hayden bought more vodka in Tekapo and was seen taking a swig from the bottle and passing it to his cousin, who also drank from the bottle.
Several members of the public called police when they saw the pair driving erratically between Tekapo and Twizel. Witnesses saw
the vehicle crossing the centre line, overtaking other vehicles and trying to run other vehicles off the road.
Senior Constable Les Andrew was sent from Twizel to look for the vehicle and found it parked on the side of the road between Tekapo and Pukaki. The driver, Stephen Hayden, appeared to be extremely intoxicated, he said.
Mark Hayden became aggressive and said ‘‘this is not going to happen’’ when Andrew tried to get Stephen Hayden to do a breath test.
He claimed his cousin had not been driving and the actual driver had walked off, then became increasingly aggressive when Andrew said Stephen Hayden would be arrested if he did not comply.
Andrew went to call for backup and Hayden started his vehicle and fled at high speed, with Andrew in pursuit.
Hayden crossed the centre line at a slight bend and crashed headon with a Toyota Hilux ute. An analysis of the crash scene found the Highlander had been travelling between 160kmh and 170kmh in the moments before the crash.
Hayden and the driver of the ute were both killed instantly.
Hayden’s blood alcohol level was 326mg per 100ml of blood – more than six times the legal limit of 50mg.
Mark Hayden survived the crash and was taken to Timaru Hospital.
When interviewed by police, he said he had very little memory of the events leading up to the crash.
The Crown said although Hayden was not driving the vehicle, he encouraged his cousin to drink copious amounts of alcohol and to drive recklessly.
Hayden will be sentenced on March 31.