Alun Garth McLachlan, 53, appeared in the Dunedin District Court this afternoon where he was jailed for a year on a charge of failing to stop and ascertain injury after the fatal incident in Owaka Valley Rd.
The acceptance of guilt came in May, nearly two years after the death of 33-year-old father of two Rikki Robin Lindsay McCall.
McLachlan described the victim as “almost like family” and even drove his coffin to the cemetery on a tractor at the funeral.
The victim’s wife Rachel – who was widowed on her birthday - said she was “disgusted” by the defendant’s behaviour in the aftermath.
“You drove him to his own funeral with his children sitting each side of you in the cab,” she said.
“You sat at the graveside and watched, less than a metre away, as Rikki’s loved ones buried him, shovel by shovel. You made a mockery of his funeral.”
“The lies, deceit, selfishness and betrayal – what a gutless coward,” she said.
Rachel McCall said she had seen McLachlan drive drunk on several occasions and had even sent him the number for a sober driver on the day of her partner’s death.
The court heard the men had been consuming alcohol with others at a property known as the “Duck Dorm”, to celebrate the start of duck-shooting season.
About midnight, Mr McCall left the property on foot, shortly followed by McLachlan who headed home in his Ford Courier.
Court documents said the vehicle was fitted with “tractor-grip tyres” which should not have been used on a road.
Police inquiries and a pathologist’s report concluded the victim had been struck while lying in the eastbound lane of Owaka Valley Rd.
McLachlan later told police he felt “a bit of a bump” but continued home, claiming he was unaware it was Mr McCall.
Just minutes later, the victim’s friends found him and called emergency services.
McLachlan initially told police he was driving a different vehicle and had not travelled along Owaka Valley Rd to get home.
But 10 days later, officers executed a search warrant at his home, seizing his Ford ute and bringing him in for another interview.
While McLachlan admitted making “mistakes” in his first statement, he maintained his innocence until the end of the discussion when he finally crumbled.
A summary of facts said he realised the day after the incident that he must have been the driver who hit Mr McCall.
He admitted drinking nine beers and two rums throughout the day.
Much of the delays to the case were caused by McLachlan’s protracted not-guilty stance and a bid to have his final video-recorded interview with police ruled inadmissible.
When that failed, he took the case to the Court of Appeal, which declined to hear it on the basis that it raised no novel point in law and was unlikely to succeed.
Judge David Robinson stressed to the packed public gallery at the outset that McLachlan was not criminally responsible for causing the death of Mr McCall, only for not stopping.
However, he said a Probation report on McLachlan was “troubling”.
The defendant claimed the bump he felt while driving was insignificant and highlighted the fact there was no forensic evidence found on his vehicle, inconsistent with an acceptance of guilt.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith said McLachlan was “intentionally misleading and deceiving” in his dealings with police and must have known he had hit the victim when he was alerted to his death just hours afterwards.
“The defendant was continually manipulating the facts,” Mr Smith said.
An offer of $10,000 from McLachlan was rejected by Mr McCall’s family.
“They found the offer offensive and really a last-minute effort to obtain some sort of credit,” Mr Smith said.
Counsel Cate Andersen said it was a severe fall from grace for her client.
“We have a man who had a good farming career and life in a small community, he had a relationship, he had job opportunities, he had had friendships and all these have been lost as a result of the tragedy on that day,” she said.
Judge Robinson said the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the defendant’s failure to stop was that he was concerned about his state of intoxication.
Home detention would not be sufficient to denounce McLachlan’s crime or hold him accountable, the judge said.
Rachel McCall described McLachlan’s actions as “cruel, callous and calculated”.
“I believe in karma and no matter the outcome today, it’s coming for you,” she said.
