Driver who killed cyclist sent to jail
A drugged driver who killed a cyclist nine years after her own son was killed by a drunk driver has been sent to prison.
Cathryn Kinita appeared in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday having earlier pleaded guilty to causing Levin man Peter Jenkins’ death by driving under the influence of drugs.
Jenkins, 54, was out for a regular Sunday training ride when he was hit by a van being driven by Kinita on State Highway 1 at Manakau, north of O¯ taki, in November.
Jenkins’ father John told the Weekend
Herald his son has been riding a bike for as long as he could remember. “Cycling was his life. He loved it . . . You couldn’t stop him from talking about cycling,” John said.
Judge Jonathan Krebs said Kinita’s vehicle was seen swerving within the lane shortly before the crash.
Witnesses said she made no attempt to brake before colliding with him, flinging him into the air. She had smoked both cannabis and methamphetamine the day before.
Kinita sobbed with her head hung low in the dock as victim impact statements were read out.
She is the mother of Bailey Kinita, a 14-year-old boy who died in a car crash in Foxton nine years ago.
Bailey and 20-year-old Louise Reichenbach died in an early morning crash on Foxton Beach Rd on February 20, 2011. The driver, 19-year-old William Nicholson-Kuiti, was convicted of manslaughter and dangerous driving and sent to prison.
Kinita has no previous criminal convictions.
Judge Krebs sentenced her to 22 months and two weeks in prison, saying home detention would be “insufficient” for the case. She was also disqualified from driving for two years.
Melissa Nightingale