Wes Fry was reading a victim impact statement in the Oamaru District Court yesterday at the sentencing of the man charged following the death of his son, Thomas Alec Fry (18), who was riding a motorcycle, at Richmond, North Otago, on May 13.
He described the actions of Richard Eion Gent (35), a Timaru truck driver who did not admit his involvement in the crash until about six weeks later, as "cold, callous and inhuman".
Gent was jailed for 26 months on charges of failing to render assistance after a crash and attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
He was sentenced to two months' imprisonment (concurrent) on a charge of careless driving causing the death of Mr Fry.
For failing to report an accident, he was convicted and discharged.
He was disqualified from driving for three years and ordered to pay reparation of $6850.
Harrowing victim impact statements were read by Mr Fry's father Wes, mother Ann, brother Hamish, sister Elizabeth and partner Hannah Willetts.
The visit by police to inform Mr and Mrs Fry of their son's death was "just the beginning of the nightmare and it's just gone on and on", Wes Fry said.
"The fact that he died is hard enough for me to understand, but the circumstances of his death make it unbearable.
"I don't know the man who killed my son, but I absolutely loathe him. For the life of me, I simply cannot understand why you just didn't stop.
"If you had stopped the truck, you could have protected my son. Dead or alive, he would have had some protection from the next car down the road. But that didn't happen because you drove off.
"Death is something that deserves respect, some dignity, reverence. You gave Tom none of those things and I can't get that out of my mind."
Elizabeth Fry was driving home after hearing of her brother's death when she was stopped at a roadblock.
She started sprinting and saw her brother's motorcycle and, when she was about 20m away, saw her brother.
She was tackled by a policeman about 5m from his "cold, wet, lifeless body lying in the middle of the road".
"I felt like I'd just been stabbed through the heart.
"That image is in my mind every single time I close my eyes and I know it's going to stay with me forever."
Looking directly at Gent, she said, "The toxic waste responsible for the death of my beautiful little brother is almost impossible to think about."
Tom Fry was a handsome, intelligent, admirable young man with a serious passion for life.
Losing her "baby brother" had destroyed her and she would hate Gent forever.
Hamish Fry said it was a cowardly act to drive off, leaving his brother on the road "like a discarded piece of rubbish".
For Ann Fry, the worst thing about Gent driving off was that another car hit her son and that was "incredibly painful" to know.
The family had six weeks of not knowing what happened and the fact Gent had been spoken to by police and lied "tears me apart", she said.
"If he'd just stopped, I firmly believe this whole thing would have been so much easier to deal with."
Appearing for the Crown, Andrew McRae said the Fry family had rejected an offer of emotional harm reparation.
He submitted the offending was too serious for a sentence of home detention.
Gent's counsel Ngaire Alexander said Gent drove away in a "blind panic".
Having made that decision, he found himself unable to admit to anyone what he had done and he lied, and he accepted those actions were cowardly.
Gent, who had no previous convictions, was remorseful for the Fry family's devastating loss and that he had made it so much worse for them.
Judge Stephen O'Driscoll said the Fry family and Miss Willetts were "incredibly brave" reading their statements.
They had provided the court with a glimpse of the pain and suffering they had to endure and would continue to endure in the future.
The writer of a pre-sentence report believed there was a degree of naivety on Gent's part in relation to the offending and little insight into the offending and its consequences.
Judge O'Driscoll hoped that by listening to the victims explain the loss and grief which they had suffered, Gent would now have full insight into the effects and consequences.
Judge O'Driscoll accepted the initial charge of careless driving causing death was not premeditated.
Drivers had an obligation not to be careless.
They also had an obligation to render assistance after a crash and also an obligation to report a crash.
The fact Gent attempted to "put police off your scent" for a period of time, clearly affected Mr Fry's family and also made the police investigation more difficult.
After sentencing, the Fry family released a statement saying they hoped the day's events would bring them some closure "in the tragic loss of our much loved family member, Tom".
They wanted to thank the police investigation team, particularly Detective Sergeant Mike Ryder, and also the transport industry for the assistance given to police.
They wanted to pass on their special thanks to the truck driver who did stop to help Mr Fry.
"While we will never be able to bring Tom back, today's events represent some justice for Tom and for our family."
