Surprise guilty plea in case of man struck by car while lying on the road
Alun Garth McLachlan initially denied being behind the wheel, but almost two years later he has pleaded guilty to a charge brought after Rikki McCall’s death.
The 52-year-old entered a guilty plea before Judge Michael Turner in the Dunedin District Court yesterday morning.
That guilty plea was for a charge of failing to stop and ascertain injury, which carries a maximum penalty of five years’ jail.
Rikki Lindsay McCall, of Owaka, died on Saturday, May 7, 2022.
An autopsy revealed McCall had suffered crushing-type injuries that were not survivable.
On that day, McCall and McLachlan were socialising with friends, celebrating the start of the duck shooting season. The people were celebrating in a shed known as the “Duck Dormitory”, on private property.
Between 11.30pm and 12.20am the following day, an intoxicated McCall had left the Duck Dormitory and walked along Owaka Valley Rd in the Catlins, towards his home, a 20-minute walk.
Not long afterwards, McLachlan left the Duck Dormitory in his Ford Courier, which was not road legal, and drove along Owaka Valley Rd.
A pathologist report found McCall had been lying on the road, with McLachlan making no attempt to stop, and ascertain what he had hit.
He continued to his home address.
Not long afterwards, his friends found McCall deceased.
McLachlan was interviewed by police on May 8, 2022, and denied any involvement in the death of the victim. He told police he had been driving a Nissan Navara vehicle, which he showed to police.
On Wednesday May 18, a search warrant was executed by police at his address, and that included officers seizing his Ford Courier.
He was formally interviewed and acknowledged he had made mistakes in his first statement – that he had been driving – but still denied having struck the victim.
But by the end, he admitted he had struck McCall, claiming he had driven between 60kph and 80kph and “he felt a bump that gave him a fright”, according to the police summary of facts.
McLachlan stated that he was not aware he had struck the victim until the next day, when he realised the timings and the stretch of road he was on.
He admitted drinking nine beers and two rums throughout the day, before driving.
He will be sentenced in August.