{"id":49768,"date":"2025-09-29T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/49768\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T09:00:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T09:00:09","slug":"honest-decent-man-to-stay-in-prison-for-drink-driving-causing-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/49768\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Honest, decent’ man to stay in prison for drink-driving causing death"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of \"NZ<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\nTupea 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. File photo.
\nPhoto: RNZ\/ Marika Khabazi\n<\/p>\n

An “honest, decent” 20-year-old man will stay in prison after he caused a woman’s death while driving drunk.<\/p>\n

Tupea Mika is described in court documents as a caring and loving person who is genuinely remorseful for what he did.<\/p>\n

But in the words of Whak\u0101tane District Court Judge Louis Bidois, who sentenced Mika: “You drink and drive, you kill someone, you go to jail.”<\/p>\n

Judge Bidois imposed a sentence of 14 and a half months in prison for two charges under the Land Transport Act – one each of causing death and injury while under the influence of alcohol or a drug.<\/p>\n

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 Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith dismissed that appeal, saying there was “no material error” in the sentencing judge’s 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 “least restrictive option” 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

“This appellant was a repeat drink-driver on a restricted licence driving late at night who killed and injured other road users through carelessness,” 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 about 11.40pm on 4 October 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 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

‘Strong morals and values’<\/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’s First XV, as a “good person who is both respectful and fun to be with”.<\/p>\n

The sentencing judge acknowledged “glowing testimonials” which had been presented to court in his defence.<\/p>\n

But “a life was taken”, the judge said.<\/p>\n

“The lives of the daughter and no doubt the extended family have been damaged as a result of this forever,” 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’ 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 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 2 January this year.<\/p>\n

One of his passengers, Wade William Crosbie, 19, died at the scene. Another passenger suffered spinal injuries and now uses a wheelchair.<\/p>\n

Judge Russell Collins said a deterrent to driving while under the influence should be “embedded” in the whole community and imposed a prison sentence of two years and three months.<\/p>\n

Judge Collins said if people asked the question, “What would happen if I killed someone through driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol?”, the answer should be, “Expect to go to jail”.<\/p>\n

Crash near Whatawhata<\/p>\n

In February, Judge Collins sentenced another driver, Elliot Robert Dixon, to three years in prison for causing death and causing injury with an excess of a controlled drug in his system.<\/p>\n

Dixon lost control of his vehicle near Whatawhata in Waikato, colliding with another car, killing his passenger and seriously injuring the driver of the other vehicle.<\/p>\n

A blood sample showed Dixon had a level of THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – which was well above the high-risk limit set out in the Land Transport Act.<\/p>\n

He also appealed his sentence to the High Court. The appeal was dismissed.<\/p>\n

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