Man admits causing deaths
A man has admitted causing the death of a promising lawyer and a toddler by driving a car into the path of a freight train.
But he is fighting to keep his name secret and his criminal history clean.
The man had pleaded not guilty to careless driving causing the deaths of Jessica Greig and Reign Watene near Woodville on August 1, 2018.
But he changed his pleas to guilty in the Palmerston North District Court yesterday.
Watene, 3, and Greig, 26, both died when a car they were in was hit by a freight train at a level crossing on Troup Rd on the outskirts of Woodville.
Greig was a well-known and promising lawyer in Hawke’s Bay. A special sitting of the Family Court was held there in her honour.
The man’s lawyer, Arama Ngapo-lipscombe, asked for convictions to not be entered, as he may apply to be discharged without conviction.
There was also an argument about the man’s name suppression, which has been in place since he first appeared in court.
Although the judge declined to keep the suppression in place, his name will stay secret as Ngapolipscombe said an appeal might be filed.
The suppression order was not filed for his sake, but the sake of the mothers of the victims.
In affidavits referred to by the judge, they said media attention made it difficult to mourn after the crash.
They wanted to move forward without media attention on the case.
The judge said she was concerned at the suggestion suppressing the man’s name would stop reporting of the case.
The judge was not satisfied not suppressing the man’s name would cause undue hardship to the mothers.
Despite the decision, the man’s name will stay suppressed until late April, so he can decide if he will appeal the decision.