Meth likely factor in fatal car plunge
Mongrel Mob member Ronald Rigby had methamphetamine in his blood and was trying to prevent another car overtaking when he drove himself and three other gang members off a 125-metre cliff near Wairoa, a coroner has found.
Rigby, 53, Nathan Isaac, 29, and Terry Stone, 31, died when the Honda Inspire they were in left the road and plunged into the Mohaka River, 40km south of Wairoa, on November 7 last year.
A fourth man in the car, Anthony Atkinson, miraculously survived.
The men had been on their way to the gang’s 50th anniversary celebrations in Hastings. They had passed through the small settlement of Raupunga and the car was making its way up an incline out of the river gorge about 2.45pm when another car travelling in the same direction, a Honda Prelude, attempted to pass it on a gentle lefthand bend.
Police located the Prelude in Raupunga days later but have not been able to establish who drove it at the time. The men who police believe were in the car have told police they received legal advice not to make a statement.
Coroner Chris Devonport has released the findings of his inquest into the crash. Autopsies revealed Rigby had methamphetamine in his blood at the time.
In his findings, Devonport quotes the forensic toxicologist as saying methamphetamine adversely affected drivers by making them overconfident and prone to ‘‘taking unnecessary risks, aggressive and dangerous driving and impaired ability to react appropriately’’.
Devonport also said a crash investigation had showed the Inspire had crossed the centreline as the Prelude attempted to overtake.
Marks on both cars showed they made contact before the Prelude braked heavily, then stopped as it hit the barrier on the northbound side of the road at the edge of the cliff.
When the Prelude stopped, the Inspire crossed in front of it, hitting the barrier at speed before mounting it and flying over the top. The car touched the ground briefly on the other side of the barrier before it flew off the near vertical cliff.
There were no witnesses and the Prelude left the scene.
Atkinson was found alive on the bank of the river at the bottom of the cliff wearing just a pair of jeans. He had a graze on his face, some bruises to his left arm and he was capable of walking and talking.
He told police that Rigby, who was driving the Inspire, had ‘‘just lost control and we went over’’.
He said he did not see any other cars and did not think another car was involved.
Atkinson, who had been in the front passenger’s seat, appeared to have been the only one wearing a seatbelt.
Stone, Rigby and Isaac died from their injuries.
Court records showed Rigby was the father of at least two children, and had made efforts to leave the Mongrel Mob and turn his life around.
He was jailed along with Stone for being part of an organised criminal group after he turned up to a 2010 gunfight at the mob’s Wairoa gang pad.
Rigby had turned up to help the gang’s then-president – whose patch had been stolen in a leadership quarrel – but then drove away.
He surrendered his gang patch and wrote to a judge saying he wished to turn his life around.
At that point, Rigby had not received a violence conviction since 1992.