Robert Gerwyn Hutton, 66, of Christchurch, received nine months’ home detention when he appeared before the Dunedin District Court in July for dangerous driving causing the death of Connor Harley Latty.
He was also banned from driving for 18 months, a term his counsel Grant Fletcher, in the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, argued was excessive.
Any disqualification beyond 12 months means a driver must resit their heavy transport licence.
It meant Hutton would effectively be off the road and out of work for about two years, Mr Fletcher said.
Mr Latty was on his way to work at Repco — a job he had only had for seven weeks — on March 17 last year when the tragedy occurred.
Earlier, Hutton had parked in Carroll St to unload damaged vehicles at an autoparts company.
When he tried to drive away there was a shuddering and he realised the brake for the rear trailer was still engaged.
Hutton got out to manually release it but left the handbrake off and the driverless truck rolled down the hill.
It passed through Princes St, into Police St where it hit a parked car, then hit Forno’s Auctioneers, before striking Mr Latty.
The vehicle continued into Crawford St where it smashed into four vehicles and finally came to a stop.
"This is an utterly horrific, tragic event, particularly for the victim’s family," he said.
But he took issue with the sentence imposed by Judge Jim Large and said the incident had "shattered" the defendant’s life.
Hutton had been diagnosed with PTSD and a major depressive disorder in the wake of the incident and Mr Fletcher said it was partly due to the man’s psychological turmoil that a guilty plea was not entered sooner.
The defendant’s previous lawyer had also sought to have the charge reduced to careless driving causing death, negotiations which took time.
There was some discussion at sentencing over whether the truck’s handbrake alarm, which should have sounded if the defendant opened the door while the brake was disengaged, was malfunctioning.
Finding experts on such matters could also create delay, Mr Fletcher said.
"This isn’t a case where the plea was delayed for tactical or strategic reasons," he told the court.
Ultimately, Mr Fletcher argued, Hutton should have received greater credit for his acceptance of guilt and his remorse.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith, though, said there was no evidence ever put before the court about the defendant’s mental anguish causing delays.
He said there was never a chance the charge would have been reduced.
The truck rolled hundreds of metres through busy streets at a time of day when many pedestrians and motorists were around.
"This was not just objectively dangerous but incredibly dangerous," Mr Smith said.
"How no-one else was collected by the truck in these circumstances is really a matter of good luck."
Justice Melanie Harland acknowledged such cases were some of the most difficult dealt with by the court.
She reserved her decision but expected to release her judgement this week.
rob.kidd@odt.co.nz , Court reporter
