Man guilty of manslaughter

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 9

Man guilty of manslaughter

PA Napier A Putaruru man was yesterday found guilty on four charges of manlaughter resulting from a head-on crash at Pukehou, central Hawke’s Bay, last October. Appearing in the High Court at Napier, Aubrey Steve Thomas, aged 29, had denied nine charges relating to the deaths of a Waipukurau couple, Peter and Wendybell Lycette, and two of their children, and injury to another child, the lone survivor of the family. The jury deliberated for more than two hours before finding Thomas guilty of the manslaughter of the four persons by driving at dangerous speeds on State highway 2 and one charge of causing to Alice by

driving at dangerous speed. The other charges, all of causing death by driving at dangerous speeds, had been laid as alternatives to the manslaughter charges. The Court had heard that Thomas was involved in a high-speed chase northwards when his Ford Fairmont vehicle veered across the road and hit an oncoming station waggon carrying the Lycette family about 8 p.m. on October 25.

Thomas was a member of the Putaruru chapter of the Mongrel Mob but Mr Justice Greig told the jury they should ignore the accused’s association with the gang. Thomas has been remanded in custody for sentence next weeky