An elderly couple say they will never get to live the rest of their days how they had hoped after a car crash in Gore stripped them of their independence.
First-time offender Jake Hemi Aitcheson-Marwick, 20, was sentenced in the Gore District Court this week after pleading guilty to two charges of dangerous driving causing injury.
On March 11, the defendant was driving at 112kmh in Main St — a 50kmh road.
He pulled into the right-hand lane and braked in an attempt to avoid a collision, but hit the car at 69kmh.
The vehicle went over the raised centre island, before coming to rest on the grass verge 38m away.
The 83-year-old driver was flown to Dunedin Hospital where he stayed in the ICU for two weeks before being transferred to the recovery unit.
He suffered an intra-abdominal bleed, a broken hip and a stroke while his wife had injuries to her neck, back and hip.
"I had to learn how to walk again ... I could not eat or drink without assistance," the man said.
"The way that I intended to live out the rest of my life has been taken away from me, and that is a hard pill to swallow."
The court heard the couple could no longer live in their house and had to move into a rest-home to receive assistance after the crash.
Judge Catriona Doyle accepted Aitcheson-Marwick was "extremely remorseful" and had taken responsibility for the incident.
She said the offending had "life-altering permanent consequences for the people who are the victim of your dangerous driving".
Judge Doyle sentenced the defendant to four months’ community detention and ordered him to pay $2000 reparation to each victim.
"This is going to sound like a light sentence for the victims in this matter who now have their own life sentence," she said.
She disqualified Aitcheson-Marwick from driving for 12 months, which she said was a "significant penalty" for someone his age.
