Robert Francis Taylor, 30, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday, where he pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 26-year-old Michael John McClelland.
The court heard how Taylor fled the scene of the South Dunedin crash in May last year and, after being found by a police dog unit, a blood-alcohol test showed he was more than three times the legal limit.
Mr McClelland’s father John McClelland said he was "relieved" the driver had finally taken responsibility for his actions.
But he urged the court to show mercy on the defendant at sentencing in June.
"I just hope they take it easy on Robert and don’t f ... somebody else’s life up," he said.
"They were pissed, they made a mistake. He’s got to live with it as well."
He admitted he was angry with Taylor — a close friend of his son’s — at first but was now willing to sit down with him for a restorative justice meeting.
"I don’t hold any animosity towards Robert whatsoever," Mr McClelland said.
On May 27 last year, Taylor and four others had been drinking when they ran out of alcohol and hatched the plan to burgle a nearby liquor store.
Taylor drove a stolen Mazda to the Bottle-O in Hillside Rd and waited in Helena St — with Mr McClelland and another man — as two of his colleagues used bolt cutters to access the shop’s storage area.
They loaded seven crates of beer into the car but while they were doing so, a member of the public confronted them and called police.
A patrol unit saw Taylor, driving with the headlights off, turn into Hillside Rd and signalled for him to stop.
He accelerated away through residential streets, almost hitting another motorist. Taylor sped down Melbourne St and hit the kerb while negotiating a chicane designed to slow traffic.
It caused the Mazda to spin clockwise, skidding out of control at up to 92kmh.
Court documents said the vehicle mounted the kerb, careened through a driveway until it slammed into a power pole and a concrete wall.
The brunt of the impact was taken by the rear left of the car, where Mr McClelland was seated.
He died at the scene.
When police arrived at the crash site, they found one man trying to climb out of the wreckage. Another ran off and was apprehended at a nearby cordon, and a third was unconscious. Taylor was found by a police dog.
Thomas Bridgman, 25, pleaded guilty to burglary and was sentenced to eight months’ home detention and 100 hours’ community work.
The other man accused of breaking into the liquor store has pleaded not guilty.
It is only a couple of months until the anniversary of Mr McClelland’s death and his father said the family had a poignant ceremony at Aramoana planned.
"There’s a seat that overlooks Shelly Beach. There’s a plaque for his grandfather and his grandfather’s two brothers, and he will join them," he said.
"We’ll spread his ashes at the mole and go back to family cribs and have a couple of beers."
