Ignored his mate, then killed him

Cameron Thomas walked out of prison just hours before killing his friend and injuring two others in an alcohol-fuelled police chase.

Some of the 34-year-old Hamilton man’s 58 previous convictions – dating back to 1999 – were outlined during his sentencing in Hamilton High Court on Friday in relation to the crash that rocked a Cambridge street last year.

These included a raft of driving offences, including dangerous driving, reckless driving, failing to stop, failing to ascertain injury and escaping police custody.

Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Shane Hohepa, along with two counts of reckless driving causing injury, and one of failing to render assistance after the fatal accident in the suburb of Leamington on September 27, 2017.

Justice Simon Moore sentenced Thomas to six years and six months in prison with a minimum nonparole period of three years and three months. The judge found the only mitigating factor was his early guilty plea.

Thomas was also disqualified from driving for 10 years.

On the day of the crash, the court heard how Thomas was released from Waikeria Prison after serving a two-month sentence for burglary.

He initially planned to move in with his partner and two-year-old daughter, but the partner didn’t want him staying there.

He instead made his way to a flat in Killarney Road, Hamilton, where Hohepa lived with his partner, Alisha Eichler, best mate Frederick Daley and his partner, Brooke Whitehead.

On the way, Thomas picked up a box of pre-mix bourbon.

When Daley arrived home from work, Thomas used his BMW to go buy more booze. Daley queried whether Thomas had a licence and he said he did.

Not long after 6am, Thomas said he wanted to go and get some ‘‘tinnies’’ in Cambridge, so Hohepa, Whitehead and Daley headed off with Thomas driving.

At Marychurch Road, an offduty traffic constable in his own car saw the BMW speeding and crossing the centre line.

He called it in.

As Thomas entered Leamington, he passed a patrol car whose officer heard the dispatch and swung around to stop the car.

But Thomas wasn’t stopping. He hit the accelerator, speeding down Scott Street.

‘‘Things were just flying past. I would estimate the car to be travelling about 180kmh. That’s what it felt like, anyway,’’ Daley described in court documents.

It was then Thomas admitted to Daley he was disqualified from driving. Hohepa pleaded with Thomas to stop the car, telling him five or six times to ‘‘f ...... stop’’, but Thomas carried on due to his own ‘‘selfish concerns over what would happen if he stopped’’, Justice Moore said.

He boosted through two giveway signs before hitting a parked car and becoming airborne.

The red BMW cartwheeled 150 metres down the street from left to right before sliding to a stop.

Hohepa, 27, suffered severe head injuries and died at the scene.

Whitehead was thrown from the car’s back seat. She landed on the grass verge in a critical state.

Daley was thrown around inside the car and eventually landed on top of Hohepa, suffering serious head injuries.

An uninjured Thomas clambered from the car and was about to be arrested when the officer was diverted to a ‘‘body’’ lying on the grass.

Thomas initially admitted to a resident he was the driver and was fleeing police, but later tried to claim the driver was his ‘‘dead mate’’. He tried to walk away from the scene, but was stopped by officers before the end of the road.

A breathtest revealed Thomas was more than twice the legal driving limit, blowing 501 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath.

In court on Friday, Thomas was supported by his sister as he wept while listening to a statement read by Hohepa’s mother, Janeen.

‘‘I struggle daily to come to the realisation that I have to live for the rest of my life with this pain without my child,’’ Hohepa’s mother said, standing in a hoodie dedicated to her dead son.

The court heard how the crash left Daley $4000 in debt on his BMW and reliant on ACC due to his injuries.

He suffered constant headaches and nausea.

Whitehead was unable to return to work after suffering a broken femur, dislocated hip, crushed chest and fractures.