Woman in fatal crash caught driving

A woman convicted of causing a crash that killed her friend has been caught driving illegally for the second time.

Kimberly Lidath Devo, 23, was stopped by police driving along Parker St in Blenheim about 4am on May 13.

It was the second time she was caught driving while disqualified following a fatal crash near Aoraki/Mt Cook in August 2015.

The crash killed her friend Rebecca Townshend and injured another, and Devo was convicted of careless driving causing death and injury.

Devo moved to Blenheim to be near family following the fatal crash and was sentenced in September last year.

She got five months’ community detention and was disqualified from driving for 18 months.

Before sentencing, she met with the parents of Townshend, 19, for restorative justice, who said Devo did not deserve to go to prison because ‘‘she is already serving a life sentence’’.

In February, Devo was caught driving while disqualified and was sentenced to 60 hours’ community work and six months’ disqualification.

Now, after being caught again, she has been disqualified from driving for a further eight months, starting on August 26 when her existing disqualification ends. Judge Peter Butler also ordered her to complete 80 hours’ community work and 12 months’ supervision.

Devo admitted a charge of driving while disqualified and two of breaching probation when she appeared at the Blenheim District Court on Monday.

Her lawyer Kent Arnott said Devo had been out of town and was headed home for work the following morning when she was stopped by police.

Arnott said at her sentencing in September Devo had ongoing grief, shame and guilt issues, and was still recovering from injuries.

Devo drank alcohol before the fatal trip, but was under the limit, and had never held a driver’s licence.