The 2023 crash killed his childhood friend, Tawa, and injured the victim’s brother, Watene Tawa, who was in the back seat.
The truck driver suffered a fractured hand, while Watene suffered a fractured knee and elbow.
It also left Tawa’s two children, who were 4 and 6 at the time, without a father and struggling with their loss.
Both wrote victim impact statements, with help from their mother, which were read in the High Court at Hamilton today at Paki’s sentencing on charges of drug driving causing injury and death.
“Hi Tangaroa,” Tawa’s daughter wrote.
“I have had a very hard year without my dad.
“I have a few questions I would like answered, so I can be more at ease and know why.
“Why didn’t you just stop at the red light when you realised it was the truck’s turn to go?
“Why didn’t you just wait for the truck to go?
“Did my Dad see the truck, too?”
She told him that she would never forgive him.
Tawa’s son told Paki that he should have looked both ways that night.
“I’m so, so, so, so sad my Dad is gone. You took him away.”
She said the children had been left “shattered”.
“Their lives have never been the same.
“No child should ever have to say goodbye to their father in a coffin,” she said.
“As a mother, it’s heartbreaking to watch.
“No matter how much time passes, there will always be a part of their hearts waiting for a dad who is never coming home.”
‘Unlicensed, suspended, alcohol and cannabis in system’
The court heard Paki has been slapped with numerous infringements for breaching his driver’s licence conditions and driving unlicensed or unregistered vehicles over the years, as well as dangerous driving and failing to stop convictions from 2016.
At 10.30am on December 27, 2023, Paki drove his unroadworthy Subaru Impreza to Whetu Marae in Welcome Bay, picking up the Tawa brothers from their Pāpāmoa home on the way.
Throughout the day, Paki drank alcohol and smoked cannabis as he drove the brothers around Tauranga.
Tangaroa Paki was sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton.
At one point, Brayden was seen hanging out the front passenger seat window while in the car. At 10.09pm the car was spotted running a red light on Devonport Rd.
Two minutes later, Paki drove along The Strand and as he negotiated the right-hand bend on to Dive Cres, he accelerated hard and skidded across to the wrong side of the road.
His speed was 59km/h along Dive Cres and as he drove towards the harbour bridge, he lost control of the car and briefly mounted the raised centre island before turning on to the bridge.
His average speed got up to between 86 and 89km/h in the 70km/h zone on the other side of the bridge, before it increased to 96km/h as he went through the intersection of Tasman Quay and State Highway 2.
The Impreza briefly slowed to 77km/h near the Tasman Quay intersection with Totara St before it increased again to 95km/h.
Still travelling along Tasman Quay, Paki got to 106km/h near Waimarie St and potentially up to 114km/h just before reaching the crash scene at Aerodrome Rd.
There, two vehicles had already stopped for the red light.
But instead of stopping, Paki pulled into the other lane and went straight through the red light, which had been active for 11 seconds.
At the same time, a Kenworth truck and trailer unit was going through the lights on Hewletts Rd.
Paki’s Subaru crashed into the passenger side of the truck after having braked for 44m; the force of the impact shunted the truck sideways.
Paki was hospitalised with moderate to serious injuries.
A blood sample revealed a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) level range of between 10 and 20 nanograms per millilitre of blood.
Although Paki’s blood alcohol level, taken two hours and 40 minutes after the crash, was 26mg, expert opinion believed it was between 50 and 90mg at the time of the crash. The legal limit for drivers over 20 is 50mg.
‘It turned into an absolute disaster’
In court, Paki’s counsel, Tony Rickard-Simms, acknowledged all the victim impact statements, including Tawa’s children, but said his client “can’t answer those questions”.
“He just didn’t do it, probably because of the alcohol and cannabis in his system, but he certainly … if he could take it back, he would have done things differently.
“These were men, but were boys together, they grew up together and share family together.
Tangaroa Paki, 29, was sent to prison on the drug-driving, causing death and injury charges. Photo / Belinda Feek
“This was a night when all the boys went out in their shared motor vehicle.
“What started out as a night of fun ended up as an absolute disaster, and he wants to acknowledge that.”
Paki told him that he and Tawa would ride their bikes around the neighbourhood when they were kids.
And, given Paki’s sister had a child with Watene Tawa, the families would now be “inextricably linked”.
“The remorse is real, and he should get credit for that.”
Justice David Johnstone took an overall starting point of five and a half years’ jail, before allowing discounts for Paki’s remorse, rehabilitative prospects and time on electronically-monitored bail.
He noted Paki had pleaded guilty to the injury charges within months of them being laid, but was taking a manslaughter charge to trial that was set to begin in April this year.
The Crown then agreed to reduce the charge to drug-driving causing death, which has a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, to which he admitted.
The truck driver also requested $100,000 in reparation for damage to his vehicle, but Justice Johnstone declined it, as Paki had no means to pay.
Instead, he jailed Paki for three years and six months, and disqualified him from driving for four years.
Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for 11 years and has been a journalist for 22.