Shay Robert Richards (20) was sentenced at the High Court in Dunedin in February to three years, three months’ jail on a count of reckless driving causing death, three of reckless driving causing injury and one of theft.
His counsel, Anne Stevens, argued the sentence was "manifestly excessive" before the Court of Appeal last month but in a judgement released this week, the challenge was thrown out.
Nakita May Strange (18) died shortly after the crash, at the intersection of Hope and Stafford Sts, on July 29, 2015, and passengers Liam Boniface, Devin Sparrow and Xavier Sardiello all suffered serious injuries.
The group were driving from Invercargill to Christchurch and picked up Richards and his friend in Dunedin.
The defendant took over the driving and stole $75 of fuel from a service station before speeding off.
Richards exceeded the speed limit, driving the wrong way down a one-way street at one point, and hit another motorist as he drove through an intersection without slowing down, the court heard.
Despite noticing Strange was unconscious in the back of the car, the defendant walked away, saying he was going to get a taxi and later texted friends.
Mrs Stevens said Justice Gendall’s assessment of the culpability involved was unfair to her client, the starting point of the sentence was too high, his decision not to give a discount for remorse was wrong in principle and the discount for Richards’ youth was too low.
Justices Edwin Wylie, Christine French and Jillian Mallon took particular issue with the suggestion Richards deserved more credit for his contrition.
"There was no evidence of remorse at the time of the crash, for example, by attempting to assist Ms Strange or to contact emergency services," Justice Wylie said.
"It is also noteworthy that Mr Richards sought to place the blame for his failure to apologise on the family of the deceased."
The Court of Appeal also said the defendant’s comments to Probation were "self-serving".
Richards said he only offered to drive the vehicle because it smelt as though it had a burning clutch, and that it might have been driven badly by others.
He claimed he saw the give-way signs at the intersections and slowed down, but simply failed to see the headlights of the approaching vehicle, which was not consistent with the factual summary to which he pleaded guilty.
"Perhaps the most telling factor against any claim of genuine remorse is the fact that Mr Richards continued to drive in breach of his licence conditions after the crash, but before he was charged," Justice Wylie said.
"A robust evaluation of all of the relevant circumstances did not demonstrate any genuine remorse by Mr Richards."
The High Court sentence was within the available range and the appeal was dismissed.