Family forgives, takes killer driver to lunch
The family of the woman killed by a truck driver did not just forgive him, they had lunch with him after his court appearance.
Alfred Price, after all, held Margaret Elizabeth Stewart’s hand as she lay dying on a Hamilton road.
Price was momentarily distracted as he drove his truck-and-trailer unit along Ruakura Rd looking for an entrance to the Mitre 10.
He didn’t see the red light at the pedestrian crossing and he didn’t see 91-year-old Stewart, edging along with her mobility walker.
By the time he realised the light was red, it was too late and Stewart lay under his truck.
Price was sentenced at the Hamilton District Court yesterday after admitting a charge of careless driving causing death.
Community magistrate Kathy Wilson ordered Price to pay $5000 reparation to the family.
Wilson also accepted an application made by Price’s lawyer, Murray McKechnie, to allow Price to keep his licence, as driving is his livelihood.
The December 2017 incident was recorded on his truck’s dashboard camera. Price was travelling about 30kmh. Footage obtained by the police from that camera showed the light for Stewart to cross had gone green a full nine seconds before Price struck her.
Price and his wife attended a restorative justice meeting with Stewart’s family in May, the court heard.
He apologised to the family and said he would swap places with Stewart in the ‘‘blink of an eye’’.
Price then passed on a letter, which Stewart’s nieces read to her brother, their father.
Police suggested if there were to be no disqualification, there should be a punitive sentence. But Wilson disagreed.
She took into account Price’s clean driving record, character references, his guilty plea at the earliest possible point, and a positive restorative justice session with the family.
‘‘There will be no disqualification, Mr Price,’’ Wilson said. ‘‘You suffered terribly from this accident . . . you’ve got the support of your family and the victim’s family.
‘‘It was just one of those things.’’
The charge was the first in an unblemished record for the 62-year-old truck driver. But it was also the start of a relationship with Stewart’s family.
The two families – Price’s and Stewart’s – sat in the courtroom together to await the outcome of the sentence.
Stewart’s family – her brother, sister-in-law and two nieces – told the magistrate they did not want Price to lose his licence, or be sent to jail.
Upon leaving the courthouse, Price got into the driver’s seat of his grey SUV that was parked on the side of the road and waited for the family – they had a lunch date, the family said outside court.
Niece Lesley Cordiner, brother Bob Stewart, sister-inlaw Sheila Stewart and niece Sandra Jenkin said they agreed with the magistrate.
‘‘We forgive him,’’ Cordiner said.
‘‘It was just an accident. Anybody could do the same thing.
‘‘He wasn’t doing anything wrong, you know. I could pull out here right now and something could happen.’’
Jenkin described her aunty as a ‘‘wee little thing’’.
Stewart never married or had children. She cared for her elderly father right up until his death.
‘‘She was precious to us.’’
‘‘We forgive him. It was just an accident. Anybody could do the same thing.’’