Motorist caused man’s death, court hears

Press, 25 May 1989, Page 30

Motorist caused man’s death, court hears

A young motorist who failed to stop at a stop sign and caused the death of a passenger in a station waggon which had the right of way was sentenced in the District Court yesterday to do 120 hours of community work.

The defendant, Michael Thomas Phillips, aged 18, also had his driver’s licence cancelled for a year.

He appeared for sentence, before Judge Everitt, on a charge of careless driving causing the death of David Copeland, at the intersection of Burwood and Mairehau Roads, about 5.30 p.m. last December 17. Defence counsel, Miss M. R. Buddicom, referred to the fact that a stop sign previously erected on a traffic island was not in place at the time of the accident as it had been knocked over by a motor vehicle. The only stop sign, to Phillips’s left, was against a red background. Miss Buddicon produced references on Phillips’s behalf and sought a sentence of community service.

Traffic sergeant Wayne Templeton appeared for the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry’s summary relating to the offence was that Phillips, driving his car in Burwood Road, failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Mairehau Road. His car hit a station waggon travelling along Mairehau Road. The rear-seat passenger in the station waggon, David Copeland was fatally injured.

Traffic was moderate and the weather fine, but visibility was poor at the intersection. The stop sign was clear and the. road markings were visible and in good condition. When interviewed about the accident, Phillips told a traffic officer he was concentrating on road direction signs ahead. He said he thought he was on a main road and did not realise there was a stop sign. The Judge said he regarded Phillips’s driving was towards the lower scale of culpability in carelessness. He said Phillips, a first offender and a realistic and sensitive person, as evidenced in the references submitted on his behalf, already had suffered a severe penalty in the knowledge that his actions had caused another man’s death. The Judge said the driving disqualification would serve to remind Phillips of the need to take extreme care when driving in circumstances in which he was not familiar with the road.

A man who faced his eighteenth conviction for driving while disqualified was sentenced to prison terms totalling 15 months for this and related driving offences. Richard Pepeive Williams, aged 21, was jailed for a year for driving while disqualified, last October 27, The Judge said he had 17 previous convictions for this offence, which was a gross disobedience of the Court’s order.