Hayden Richard Hurst, 29, was before the High Court at Invercargill today for the manslaughter of 48-year-old Royalburn Station head butcher Outrega (Tre) Anderson on December 16 last year.
The court heard Hurst had begun drinking at 4pm the day before the collision at a work Christmas party in Queenstown and later consumed MDMA.
Although the man’s boss had arranged for his staff to stay in accommodation, the defendant decided to drive home to Wanaka in the early hours, initially setting out on the wrong side of the road in the Queenstown CBD.
The defendant then continued down the Frankton-Ladies Mile Highway swerving through traffic and failed to give way to a bus at a roundabout.
The court heard that while his vehicle crossed the centre line into oncoming traffic, two cars were driven off the road to avoid a collision. The impaired driver was talking hands free to his partner on the phone, eating, and tailgating other vehicles.
Mr Anderson was driving east on the Gibbston Highway at 7:42am when Hurst again veered on to the wrong side of the road, crashing head-on into Mr Anderson's car.
He died at the scene.
Blood analysis showed Hurst had a blood-alcohol level of 131mg per 100ml of blood, more than twice the legal limit, and was more than twice the high-risk limit for MDMA.
Hurst was originally charged with drink-driving causing death in January before the charge of manslaughter was later added.
Mr Anderson’s friends, family and colleagues read victim impact statements to the court.
His sister said his mother had the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease when Mr Anderson was killed, and his death had exacerbated her illness.
The grieving sister said her mother found it hard to understand her son’s passing, asking: “So now that he’s gone behind bars, Tre can come back?”.
In response to the defendant’s 10-month delay in pleading guilty, Mr Anderson’s sister said: “Your actions have denied her precious time to grieve for her son.”
Another friend and colleague challenged Hurst to become the best version of himself in return for taking Mr Anderson’s life.
“I ask in return for Tre’s life that you now take responsibility for your life ... become a man of honour, grit and strength,” he said.
In sentencing, Justice Lisa Preston gave the 29-year-old credit for remorse, rehabilitative actions, his guilty plea and for offering to make an emotional harm payment of $10,000 to the victim’s family.
She sentenced him to three years, 11 months’ imprisonment, ordered the reparation and disqualified him from driving for four years.
