Community reeling from deaths of loved couple
Other driver killed was in stolen vehicle, on bail and under curfew
A Hauraki community reeling from the deaths of two popular members were last night gathering at the local fire station to remember them.
Ian and Jocelyn Anne Fielder, aged in their 60s, were killed in a two-car smash on Thursday night after a young man breaching bail and driving a stolen car ploughed into them at Thames.
The couple were killed west of the Kopu Bridge on State Highway 25 after driver Haydn David Clark, 20, crossed the centre line and struck the Fielders who were returning home from dinner with friends.
Clark died and his father Jim Clark, 54, the only passenger in his son’s car, was taken to Middlemore Hospital in a critical condition after being cut from the wreckage. Last night a hospital spokeswoman confirmed he was stable.
The Fielders were popular members of the Turua community and neighbour Doreen Douglas remembered them as a “hard case” couple.
“They were lovely. They minded their own business, got on with life, enjoyed golf. They were just good people. Really good people.”
She said there had been a spate of crashes on that stretch of road recently and she felt angry the couple had been killed.
“It’s not a terrible stretch of road, it’s terrible drivers,” she said.
An informal gathering was held at Turua fire station last night, where Ian Fielder was previously a volunteer firefighter for many years.
The Fielders’ family was gathered at their home last night and volunteer Shane Mason told the Weekend Herald the station gathering was for people who didn’t want to intrude on them.
“I think everyone is in shock and still processing it. Ian was a very safe driver so everyone is surprised they would be involved in a crash.”
At the time of the crash Haydn Clark, from Drury in South Auckland, was driving a stolen ute reportedly taken following a vehicle sale in Auckland that turned sour, police said.
He was on bail — facing drug charges — and the bail conditions included a 24-hour curfew.
While families were gathering at the respective homes of the dead yesterday online tributes circulated.
Clark’s girlfriend posted to Facebook last night that it was a “horrible time for everyone” and that Clark had “so much potential”.
“I can’t believe this, why does this have to happen to you,” she wrote.
She didn’t respond to requests for comment and the post was deleted after it was condemned by a number of people who wrote that Clark had taken innocent lives.
In a separate post one friend wrote Clark knew “dam (sic) right your driving would one day kill you . . . I just hope you had that cheeky As (sic) smile on your face at the time”.
Clark’s Facebook page showed he had previously broken his neck after a 2014 car crash, with one post referring to him losing his licence, owing $1000 in fines, and having his car green-stickered for not complying with road rules.
The couple who the Fielders were dining with on Thursday night were too upset to speak yesterday.
Another neighbour told the Herald the “fun-loving” couple often met up with those friends on Thursday nights.
“It was a little ritual they had.” Fire crew from Thames and Ngatea stations were being offered support and counselling after witnessing the crash aftermath which was described as a “particularly nasty scene” by a Fire and Emergency staffer.
They were lovely. They minded their own business, got on with life, enjoyed golf. They were just good people. Really good people.
Doreen Douglas