{"id":74382,"date":"2025-10-12T20:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T20:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/74382\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T20:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T20:04:08","slug":"truckie-sarah-schmidt-who-killed-caleb-baker-on-hawkes-bay-expressway-released-from-prison-after-nine-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/74382\/","title":{"rendered":"Truckie Sarah Schmidt, who killed Caleb Baker on Hawke\u2019s Bay Expressway, released from prison after nine months"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

\"The<\/p>\n

\nThe aftermath of the Hawke’s Bay Expressway crash that killed Caleb Baker.
\nPhoto: NZME\n<\/p>\n

The family of a young man killed when a phone-distracted truckie ran into the back of his work ute say her release after serving just nine months in prison is “impossible to comprehend”.<\/p>\n

Truck driver Sarah Hope Schmidt was released from Arohata Women’s Prison roughly one-third of the way through her jail sentence of two years and four months for killing Caleb Baker and injuring another motorist.<\/p>\n

Baker’s uncle, Shane Taurima, said learning that Schmidt was out on parole was “deeply shocking and retraumatising”.<\/p>\n

“We’re devastated. Nine months for taking a life is impossible to comprehend,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The pain of losing him never leaves us.”<\/p>\n

Schmidt, 25, was a truck driver who spent 44 minutes using her phone during a two-hour run between Dannevirke and Napier Port in the early morning of 9 February 2024.<\/p>\n

After starting on her return journey down the Hawke’s Bay Expressway, she was still using her phone<\/a> when she ploughed her 30-tonne Volvo truck into the back of Baker’s Toyota Hilux, which was at the rear of a stationary queue of traffic.<\/p>\n

In the 16 seconds before the collision, a dashboard camera captured Schmidt looking at her phone on 10 separate occasions, for between half a second and two seconds at a time.<\/p>\n

She looked down at her phone four times in the final six seconds.<\/p>\n

Today, the coroner’s report into Baker’s death was released.<\/p>\n

In it, Coroner Mark Wilton made a plea for drivers to refrain from using handheld phones while driving.<\/p>\n

“I … strongly urge those drivers that continue doing so, to stop,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

\nCaleb Baker played rugby for Napier Tech. His funeral was held at the clubrooms.
\nPhoto: Photo \/ Napier Technical Sports Club\n<\/p>\n

Schmidt was still using her phone two seconds before the crash, when she was travelling at 86km\/h.<\/p>\n

Although she then applied the brakes, it was too late, and she was moving at 76km\/h when her truck, laden with a shipping container, ran into the back of Baker’s ute.<\/p>\n

Baker, 22, a talented rugby player who worked for Fulton Hogan as a specialist operator, died at the scene from multiple blunt force injuries. He was only 4km from his home.<\/p>\n

His vehicle was shunted into a Holden Captiva, which in turn was pushed forward into the back of a light truck. The Holden driver was injured.<\/p>\n

Schmidt pleaded guilty to two charges of dangerous driving – one each of causing death and injury.<\/p>\n

She was sentenced in the Napier District Court in November last year to two years and four months in prison.<\/p>\n

However, a Parole Board report released to NZME shows that Schmidt was released from Arohata Women’s Prison on 15 July.<\/p>\n

Her end sentence date was 16 February 2027.<\/p>\n

The Parole Board said that Schmidt, a first offender, was “clearly and visibly upset” when she appeared before the panel on 1 July, having completed 22 sessions with a psychologist.<\/p>\n

“The impression was that she is genuinely remorseful for what she has done,” Parole Board panel convenor Ann-Marie Beveridge said.<\/p>\n

“Ms Schmidt herself did not realise the extent that she was using her phone until she was told after the offence.”<\/p>\n

No ‘undue risk’ on parole<\/p>\n

Beveridge said that what had happened was “incredibly tragic” but the board was satisfied that Schmidt would not pose any “undue risk” while on parole.<\/p>\n

Her parole would run until her statutory release date, with conditions to continue with counselling.<\/p>\n

“In directing Ms Schmidt’s release on parole we do not diminish the seriousness of the offending and we acknowledge the immeasurable loss to the victim, his family and friends,” Beveridge said.<\/p>\n

“We wish Ms Schmidt well for her future. We know it is going to be a long journey and we hope that she is able to make peace with what has happened.”<\/p>\n

In his report into the circumstances of Baker’s death, Coroner Wilton said people continued to use their mobile phones while driving, despite it being illegal.<\/p>\n

He said driving was an activity which required full attention.<\/p>\n

“Such [mobile phone] use places other motorists, road users and members of the public at significant risk of harm and injury, or death, as seen here in Mr Baker’s case,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I particularly note that at least one other death has occurred in a motor vehicle crash since Mr Baker’s death, where another truck driver was distracted when using a mobile phone while driving,” the coroner said.<\/p>\n

Wh\u0101nau ‘blindsided’<\/p>\n

Shane Taurima said Baker’s wh\u0101nau were “blindsided” to learn from a reporter last week that Schmidt had been freed.<\/p>\n

They had not been contacted by police, the Parole Board, or the Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n

“We have always respected the justice process, but this experience has left us questioning how victims and their wh\u0101nau are treated,” Taurima said.<\/p>\n

“Caleb was only 22. He had his whole future ahead of him.<\/p>\n

“This decision has left our wh\u0101nau heartbroken and questioning whether victims and their families truly matter in this system.”<\/p>\n

Schmidt has been disqualified from driving for three years.<\/p>\n

* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of The aftermath of the Hawke’s Bay Expressway crash that killed Caleb…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[48,47,42,43,49,46,44,45,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-74382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-audio","9":"tag-current-affairs","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-podcasts","13":"tag-public-radio","14":"tag-radio-new-zealand","15":"tag-rnz","16":"tag-top-news","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-topnews","19":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}