A methamphetamine-affected ute driver who collided head-on with a truck, causing it to run off the road and catch fire, had used the drug daily for days before.
Waikato man Karl Dee McQuillan was sentenced to 12 months house arrest after previously pleading guilty to driving under the influence of a drug that resulted in death, possession of methamphetamine, possession of MDMA and illegal possession of ammunition and explosives.
Prior to his sentencing in Hamilton District Court on Friday afternoon, the family of this victim, truck driver Craig Searle, revealed to the court their fears about the 2020 Waikato nationwide crash.
“You might as well have ripped my heart out with your bare hands,” his widow Eileen Searle told McQuillan.
She was forced to change jobs because she couldn’t bear to travel the same stretch of road every day.
“What is so bad in your life that you have chosen to use drugs? Whatever it is that you have chosen to escape, it has found you.
“F… you. If I have to live with it, so will you.”
A report from the previous sentence had found that in the weeks and months before the crash, McQuillan had taken daily or almost daily methamphetamine, “for more stamina while hunting.”
Judge Phillip Crayton also disqualified McQuillan from driving for two years and from paying his offer of $25,000 in damages to Searle’s family.
This did not prevent them from seeking further damages through civil action, he noted.
Prosecutor Amy Alcock also noted that in March and July this year, on bail, McQuillan was caught twice speeding – the second time in a car that was not warranted or registered.
“That’s proof of your poor judgment,” Crayton said.
As evidenced by the agreed summary of the facts in the case, Searle was driving a heavy truck and farm equipment trailer north on State Highway 27, through the Waikato settlement of Waharoa, at about 6:30 a.m. on Friday, June 26, 2020.
He was traveling at approximately 65 km/h and was driving safely in the correct lane.
In the other direction came McQuillan, who was behind the wheel of a Toyota Hilux, traveling at about 68 km/h.
For reasons unknown, McQuillan failed to make a bend in the road and crossed the center line, moving completely into the northbound lane and directly in the path of Searle’s truck.
Searle had no time to dodge the impact and, as the summary states, the left front of the truck collided with the left front of the ute.
Searle lost control and the truck and trailer slammed through the roadside guardrail and crashed over a railroad bridge.
The front part of the truck ended up on the railway track where it caught fire.
Searle died on the spot.
McQuillan sustained injuries to his abdomen and head and was transported by rescue helicopter to Waikato Hospital, where a blood sample was taken seven hours later and found to contain 0.43 milligrams of methamphetamine per liter of blood.
A few days later, the police received a search warrant to investigate what was in McQuillan’s car.
Inside, they found three large two-liter containers containing what appeared to be the remains of a large amount of white crystal material and a small snap closure containing 0.9 grams of crystal.
It was methamphetamine.
In addition to McQuillan’s prescription drug and the meth, the ute also contained a resealable bag containing 1.5 grams of MDMA.
They also found a “pelican” box containing 49 rounds of 20-gauge ammunition and a round of .308 ammunition.
McQuillan’s home was also searched. Numerous drug artifacts, 93 shotgun ammunition and a .22 round were found there.
When the police spoke to him, McQuillan had no explanation for his actions that day, nor for the items the police had found.
More coming soon.