Cameron Charles Presland will appear before the New Zealand Parole Board next week after being jailed for four years and nine months following his conviction on two counts of manslaughter and two of dangerous driving causing injury.
Learner driver Presland had been drinking before getting behind the wheel of his illegally modified, unwarranted and unregistered 1996 Honda Integra early on May 18, 2014.
The father of one teenager critically injured in the crash said he considered Presland’s eligibility for parole after serving only 18 months behind bars a "huge insult" to victims.
"I still don’t think he gets what he’s done."
Presland’s car was travelling at speeds between 142kmh and 163kmh when he lost control on a moderate bend on the Southern Motorway.
Front-seat passenger Shannon Kiriau was killed when the car slammed into a metal lamppost. Courtney and her best friend, Danielle Kiriau, were thrown from the vehicle as it spun out of control.
Danielle — who was Presland’s girlfriend — died at the scene, while Miss Donald was taken to Dunedin Hospital in a critical condition. The car’s other passenger, Caitlin Adams, sustained fractures to both hands, concussion and bruising.
Miss Donald suffered horrific injuries and remained in intensive care for a month following the crash.
She underwent 16 operations during hours of surgery for her injuries and needed her pelvis reconnected to her spine, her left hip reconstructed, her right hip bolted and lost part of her tongue.
Shannon and Danielle’s mother, Beverley de’Blecourt was critical of Presland’s eligibility for parole.
She had felt the sentence was inadequate considering the loss Presland had caused and the chance of parole so early into the sentence was a blow to the family.
"Eighteen months isn’t long for two lives," she said.
"That’s not long enough for anybody. People get longer for less.
"No-one gets their full time, but 18 months to me is just ridiculous."
Mr Donald said during Presland’s court proceedings no-one had informed the family about how parole worked and to learn the man who had caused so much pain to his family could be released before completing his full term came as a shock.
"We are 100% against him being released or even considered for release," he said.
"Four years, nine months, is what it is. That’s what he should serve.‘‘We will fight it. We will try to slow it down."
Despite her pain, Mrs de’Blecourt said she did not hate Presland and at one time during his two-and-a-half-year relationship with her daughter had counted him as family. However, she believed he should serve his time, if nothing else to send a message to other young people about the consequences of mixing immaturity, fast cars and booze.
"They just don’t seem to get it."
"I see even some of our kids’ friends hooning around here in cars and I think ‘what are you doing?’
"It just doesn’t sink in their heads what can happen."
Mr Donald said he did not believe Presland had earned the right to freedom.
The family had felt no remorse from him.
He had not reached out following the tragedy and only recently had the New Zealand Parole Board attempted to set up a meeting between himself and the family.
"Just recently, the parole board spoke to [Courtney’s mother] Tania to say can he meet with Courtney and talk to her and I think it’s a bit ironic it’s when he’s going for parole because other than that he’s never written a letter or anything," Mr Donald said.
"If there was any sort of understanding of what he had done he could have written a letter to her. He’s been in there 18 months ... he could have said something but there’s nothing there.
"Danielle was Courtney’s best friend but, regardless of being a friend or not, if you do something like that to a family, if you have any scruples, you make contact or reach out.
"It’s not in good taste that he wants to make contact now. It’s an insult now. It’s an insult to both families."
Mrs de’Blecourt felt her family had been condemned to a life sentence.
"It’s not something we can really heal from," she said.
Mr Donald said his daughter had made amazing strides and her progress was a miracle considering the prognosis, but "she’s still got a long way to go".
"She’s still not walking and she still needs a hand with mundane, everyday things we take for granted."
The family was certain Courtney would walk again.
"Yesterday when we saw the doctors, they are still blown away [with her progress]," he said.
"For what the outcome was meant to be, she’s doing amazing."
The fourth victim of the crash, Miss Adams,
did not respond to requests for comment from the Otago Daily Times.