R v Adlam [2015] NZHC 2192 (11 September 2015)

Last Updated: 25 September 2015

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND PALMERSTON NORTH REGISTRY

CRI 2015-054-1700 [2015] NZHC 2192

THE QUEEN

v

_{RICHARD WANI ADLAM}

Hearing:	11 September 2015
Counsel:	M Davies and M Blaschke for Crown P J Drummond for Defendant
Sentence:	11 September 2015

_{SENTENCE OF SIMON FRANCE J}

[1] Mr Adlam, you are to be sentenced today on two charges arising from a driving incident:

(a) the first charge is manslaughter, the victim being a 13 year old girl

Te Rehia McGhie. She was a passenger in your car;

(b) the second charge is dangerous driving causing injury, the victim being a 62 year old man – Mr Peter McMahon. He was driving the vehicle you collided with.

[2] The facts are well known to everyone here today but I need to set them out for the record.

R v ADLAM [2015] NZHC 2192 [11 September 2015]

[3] In October last year you took possession of a car that was not able to be driven. An indication of its condition is given by the fact that you got it by handing over a play station.

[4] To avoid a tow fee you applied a clamp to the right front brake hose. This released the pressure on the rusted brake disc and the brake pads fell out.

[5] You were then able to drive it and did so. Over the next period you continued to drive it. You experienced issues with the brakes but that did not deter you. And so to the day in question.

[6] You took your neighbour’s daughter for a drive. That was contrary to the terms of your restricted licence so you were not permitted to have her in your car. You were driving in a lay-by. When the seal suddenly ended you drove onto the grass, the brakes would not work and you slid down a bank and into on-coming traffic, where you collided head on with Mr McMahon’s car.

[7] The consequences of this offending have been devastating to those affected. Today victim impact statements have been read by four of Te Rehia’s family – they reveal the devastation that will be felt for a long time. I can only imagine how hard it is to lose a child; to do so in circumstances of such total stupidity must almost be too hard to bear. On behalf of the community I extend my sympathies to Te Rehia’s family.

[8] The situation concerning Mr McMahon is also tragic. Not only has he suffered the physical harm and on-going consequences of the accident, but it has revived hard memories of the loss of his own son in a car accident. To you Mr McMahon, and your family, I also acknowledge what this has meant to you.

[9] Mr Adlam, you are 31 years of age. You have numerous driving offences in the past, a record that says you do not really care about others. Whatever limits are imposed on your ability to drive, you ignore, and you have done so now for 12 years. Over that time you have been convicted on 11 occasions of driving while disqualified. You have two drink driving convictions. When you were tested after

this accident, there was cannabis in your system. You also have convictions for failing to stop, driving in a dangerous manner and driving carelessly. You have been jailed for that offending, but still it did not deter you. Claims today of remorse need to be assessed against the reality of how you act.

[10] The process for sentencing is to identify a sentence that is appropriate for the offending. That figure may then be adjusted upwards, as it will be here, to reflect your past offending and the need to bring home to you that you cannot continue to commit driving offences. I will then reduce the sentence to give you credit for your early guilty plea.

[11] So I turn first to identifying the proper sentence for this offending. What I do today cannot undo what has been done, and cannot give Te Rehia back to her family. All I can do is mark out society’s condemnation of your reckless lack of concern for anyone else. It is important that the sentence is similar to the sentences that have been imposed in similar cases – equal treatment is an essential feature of a fair system.

[12] With that in mind counsel have provided me some of those cases and I have considered them. I have reached the view that in relation to the manslaughter the proper sentence, before any adjustments, is five years’ imprisonment.¹ This reflects that you deliberately disabled the brake and drove around for more than a week like that, all the while ignoring warning signs. The car was unregistered, unwarranted and very much not roadworthy.

[13] There is then the charge in relation to Mr McMahon’s injuries. Standing alone that would receive a significant penalty of around three years, but I need to adjust that to reflect that it will come on top of the five years. I add eight months. Finally in terms of identifying the negative features, there needs to be recognition of your appalling driving record and the fact that you were not permitted to have Te Rehia in the car. I add six months for that meaning, before credit for your plea, a

_{sentence of six years, two months.}

1. I consider R v Bishop [2012] NZHC 2761, another modified car fatality, most on point. The starting point there was five years.

[14] I will reduce that to give you credit for pleading guilty early on to manslaughter. I also acknowledge that you took part in a restorative justice meeting with Te Rehia’s mother and sister. They found that helpful as they try to come to grips with what has happened.

[15] I have read the report of that meeting. I accept you are genuinely sorry for Te Rehia’s death but I have to say I am not convinced you really understand how wrong your actions were over that period to be driving the car or that you see that how you have been carrying on for 12 years is what has led to this point.

[16] In the end I reduce your sentence to four years, six months’ imprisonment.

[17] Concerning disqualification I take a figure less than five years to reflect that the immediate driving was of itself not improper. However, your record and the state of the car mean a lengthy period is needed and I will impose four years.

Please stand.

[18] On the charge of manslaughter I sentence you to four and a half years. [19] On the charge of dangerous driving causing injury, two and a half years.

[20] Those sentences are to be served at the same time so the total sentence is four years, six months.

[21] I order you to be disqualified from driving for four years, that period to take effect from your release.

_{[22] [A first strike warning was also given.]}

_{Simon France J}

Solicitors:

Ben Vanderkolk & Associates, Crown Solicitors, Palmerston North

P J Drummond, Barrister, Palmerston North