A young man who caused the death of a woman while driving under the influence of alcohol has escaped conviction.
20-year-old Joshua Clinton Wolland was released without conviction from Palmerston North District Court on Thursday after he previously pleaded guilty to causing Ashleigh Knight’s death while driving under the influence of alcohol.
knight, 21, died on December 4 after falling from the back of a ute on Te Awa Rd near Pohangina. Wolland had driven a group of friends back to a party after going swimming on Crate Day.
Judge Jonathan Krebs said Wolland had a previously clean criminal record, pleaded guilty and demonstrably remorseful, but had been banned from driving after drinking.
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“This offense can be characterized as a youthful surrender. They all had a good time, including the victim.”
He said it was no fault of Wolland’s driving and that Knight’s family had been “really encouraging” to let Wolland leave without conviction.
After restorative justice, a heartfelt apology and emotional discussions, the family accepted it was an accident, Krebs said.
“I hope you learn from this; I hope you and your friends learn from this. It’s easy to have fun, but it’s hard to estimate the consequences at the time. Alcohol and driving just don’t mix.”
Wolland was banned from driving for nine months and ordered to pay $2,500 emotional damages to the Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter.
Defense attorney Tim Hesketh asked for his discharge without conviction, saying the effect of a conviction on a young person would make even minor matters, such as getting insurance, difficult.
Murray Wilson/things
Ashleigh Knight, 21, was an accomplished rugby player and a student at Massey University.
Krebs said Knight and Wolland were part of a group of people who socialize. During the meeting, the group decided to go to the river for a swim.
Wolland drove his ute after drinking two 750ml bottles of beer from a crate.
There were nine people in the ute, including five in the back. There was also a wooden chair on the back of the ute.
After the swim, Wolland started bringing the group back to the party in the ute and there was an S-turn in the way.
“As [Wolland] was driving around, at a speed of 50 km/h, unfortunately Ashleigh sat in the seat and lost her balance and fell from the ute onto the road.”
She died instantly, Krebs said. When Wolland was breath tested by police, his blood alcohol level was 400 micrograms, above the legal limit for an adult which is 250 mcg, but he was 19 at the time. Drivers under 20 have a zero limit.
Wolland, an apprentice diesel mechanic, had no previous convictions and had a desire to go abroad one day, which would have influenced a conviction.
Knight was a promising rugby slot† She was selected to Feilding High School’s first XV at age 11 and played 200 games for the school before joining the Manawatū Cyclones senior ladies at age 16.
She played 19 matches for Manawatū and was posthumously awarded a blazer, which is awarded for 20 matches, by the union.
She was also a Massey University student and the secretary of the college’s young farmers’ club, and had started a summer job just before her death.
crate day was launched in 2009 by radio station The Rock as a publicity stunt encouraging people to celebrate the first Saturday of summer – the first Saturday in December – by drinking a case of beer.
JOHN KIRK ANDERSON/STUFF
Emergency physician Scott Pearson has seen the effects of a crate day firsthand. [File video]
Since then, the day has become synonymous with drunkenness, and increase in domestic violence and emergency room admissions and anti social behaviour†
Other people have also died as a result. retired Invercargill doctor Anton De Croos passed away after Zachary Griffiths, 22, who had been drinking to celebrate Crate Day, hit his vehicle on Dec. 5, 2020.
MediaWorks, owner of The Rock, has since distanced himself from the pastimeand said in July 2021 it had nothing to do with it anymore.
Correction: A first draft of the story said 400 micrograms of alcohol was the breathing limit for an adult. The limit is actually 250 mcg for a person over the age of 20. (Article updated at 10:39 PM July 7, 2022.)