Killer driver guilty
A man has admitted responsibility for causing a crash which killed a ‘‘vibrant and vivacious’’ Taranaki teenager, a girl described by her family as their shining light.
Yesterday, Kevin Ronald Bishell entered guilty pleas to two charges: dangerous driving causing death, and refusing a request for a blood sample.
The charges related to the August
28, 2018, crash which killed 18-yearold Olivia Renee Keightley-Trigg, who was heading home to Waitara after dropping friends off at the New Plymouth Airport. She died at the scene of the head-on crash, which happened about 6am on Big Jim’s Hill near Waitara.
Bishell was heading south in a ute at the time of the crash and was arrested and charged the same day by police.
Bishell initially pleaded not guilty to dangerous driving causing death, possession of cannabis, possession of utensils to smoke methamphetamine and refusing to give a blood sample, and the case had been set down for a jury trial to begin in the New Plymouth District Court on November 25. However, he will now be sentenced in the same court on November 11 on the two charges to which he pleaded guilty.
Members of Keightley-Trigg’s family were in court for yesterday’s brief hearing.
Following the teen’s death, her family described the talented sportswoman and academic as a ‘‘shining light’’.
‘‘She was just a vibrant, vivacious girl and everybody was just drawn to her.’’
Judge Gregory Hikaka convicted Bishell of the two charges and remanded him on bail to the sentencing date. The judge also referred the case to restorative justice and asked for a pre-sentence report to be completed.
Bishell was heading south in a ute at the time of the crash and was arrested and charged the same day by police.