Driver jailed for Nelson road fatality

Press, 25 February 1981, Page 4

Driver jailed for Nelson road fatality

Nelson reporter ; A youth with a previous! .excess blood-alcohol driving j conviction, who drove ! through a stop sign at Nelson and killed a young ;mother of two children, on; ■Christmas Eve, was con-) evicted and sentenced to one! ) year’s imprisonment by) kludge Headifen in the Dis- ; trict Court at Nelson yesterday. Last week Gregory Harley Williams, a Post Office trainee lineman, pleaded guilty to a charge that while driving a vehicle in Saxtons ißoad with an excess bloodalcohol level, he caused the death of Linda Robyn Greig. As well as imprisoning Williams, the Judge also disqualified him from driving for seven years. For Williams, Mr R. D. Symns said that because ofj his state at the time of the) accident Williams did not; know what he had done) until the next morning. He) was full of remorse and bit-' terlv regretted the death of:

I young mother and he would I to live with this for the rest ;of his life. He submitted jthat the good of society ) would not be met by imposing a custodial sentence and asked that the probation i officer’s report reommending )a community-based, sentence i be implemented. i In sentencing Williams the [Judge said the defendant had been convicted of an excess blood-alcohol driving offence on October 23, 1979, and was fined $350, and now he was before the Court again on another blood-alcohol related charge which had caused the death of a young mother, and all at the age of 18. After reviewing various sections of the Criminal Justice Act the Juidge said he did not feel he could leave the defendant in the community with any degree of certainty. “I take the view that under no circumstances can I restore this mother to her children and she was killed by your actions,” he said. -