Since being sentenced in July, Mika has appealed to the High Court, arguing that his jail sentence should have been commuted to home detention.<\/p>\n
But High Court<\/a> Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith dismissed that appeal, saying there was \u201cno material error\u201d in the sentencing judge\u2019s decision not to impose home detention in the place of imprisonment.<\/p>\n Home detention becomes an option when a jail term is imposed which is less than two years. The Sentencing Act requires judges to impose the \u201cleast restrictive option\u201d that circumstances allow. <\/p>\n Second drink-driving offence<\/p>\n However, Justice Wilkinson-Smith said this was the second time in 18 months that Mika had been charged with a drink-driving offence while still a teenager.<\/p>\n He was 19 at the time of the fatal crash.<\/p>\n On the previous occasion, he had been fined and disqualified from driving for six months. <\/p>\n \u201cThis appellant was a repeat drink-driver on a restricted licence driving late at night who killed and injured other road users through carelessness,\u201d Justice Wilkinson-Smith said in her decision.<\/p>\n Mika drank about eight to 10 bottles of beer on the evening of the accident, which happened on State Highway 2 south of Whakat\u0101ne<\/a> about 11.40pm on October 4, 2024.<\/p>\n He crossed the centre line on a sweeping left-hand bend, colliding with an oncoming car containing a mother and adult daughter who were on their way home from work.<\/p>\n The mother was flown to Waikato<\/a> Hospital, where she died from her injuries. <\/p>\n The daughter, who had been driving, suffered a cut to her knee which needed stitches, as well as abrasions, tenderness and bruising.<\/p>\n A blood sample taken about five hours after the collision showed Mika to have about 53mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, indicating he probably had a level of between 100 and 180mg\/ml at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n This would have been two to three times the adult drink-driving limit, but, as Mika was under the age of 20, he was not allowed to drive with any alcohol in his system at all. <\/p>\n He was also in breach of his restricted licence, because of the alcohol and driving after 10pm. <\/p>\n Mika, who was employed as a machine operator, pleaded guilty to the charges and was assessed as having a low risk of further offending.<\/p>\n \u2018Strong morals and values\u2019<\/p>\n His father described him as a very caring and loving person who grew up in a family with strong morals and values.<\/p>\n His partner described Mika, a former member of his school\u2019s First XV, as a \u201cgood person who is both respectful and fun to be with\u201d.<\/p>\n The sentencing judge acknowledged \u201cglowing testimonials\u201d which had been presented to court in his defence.<\/p>\n But \u201ca life was taken\u201d, the judge said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe lives of the daughter and no doubt the extended family have been damaged as a result of this forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The tragedy was entirely avoidable.<\/p>\n Offenders usually serve one-half of a short prison sentence, of under two years, meaning that Mika is likely to be released in March next year.<\/p>\n Prison sentence to be expected<\/p>\n Judge Bidois\u2019 message that people who drive and kill someone while impaired mirrors that of another judge, who imposed a jail term on a driver who had used cannabis before a fatal crash.<\/p>\n The Napier <\/a>District Court was told in August that Alexander Lucas Kerr had cannabis in his system when he crashed his 2004 Honda Accord in a semi-rural part of Havelock North on the evening of January 2<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n