• Tere Moekore was sentenced to three years and two months in prison for killing 14-year-old Kaea Conan Matau while drink driving and speeding. 
• The 30-year-old, who didn’t stop, still seems to show little remorse, the judge noted this week. 
• Matau was a ‘gentle giant’ who played seven instruments and had enormous potential, mourners recalled. 

A woman on a learner’s permit who was four times the legal limit for alcohol and travelling nearly twice the speed limit when she killed a 14-year-old pedestrian stood stone-faced in court as the boy’s family sobbed, sang and sometimes howled while trying, in vain it seemed, to get across the magnitude of what she had done. 

“I struggle to sleep - the bloody nightmares!” Kaea Conan Matau’s father yelled during a victim impact statement, his pained voice booming enough to be heard outside the Manukau District courtroom where Ōtara housekeeper Tere Moekore stood in the dock earlier this week. “I’m empty! There is nothing. 

“ ... Watching my kids suffer I feel helpless. It f***ing sucks! It hurts. I am so angry at what you did! I feel ripped off. YOU took my boy’s life.” 

An overflow crowd of family and supporters showed up at the 30-year-old’s sentencing hearing, where details of the fatal crash - some horrific, others infuriating - were made public for the first time. 

Moekore had spent the evening drinking with her grandmother and a neighbour on the evening of March 8 this year. She later admitted to having consumed a 12-pack of pre-mix vodka drinks without any food before or afterwards. 

Just before 10pm Matau and his best friend had left his friend’s house on foot and were running across two-lane Great South Rd in Papatoetoe via a marked pedestrian crossing. Moekore, who was alone in her vehicle despite her learner’s permit requiring a supervisor, was travelling at an estimated 95km/h in a 50km/h zone. 

Tere Moekore has been sentenced in Manukau District Court for causing the death of 14-year-old pedestrian Kaea Matau in a drink-driving crash in March. Photo / Alex Burton 

“As the deceased ran across the road, the defendant’s car hit the deceased, causing his body to fly through the air,” the agreed summary of facts states. “The deceased was thrown approximately 30 metres across to the northbound lane, coming to rest in the cycle lane on the far side of the road. 

“The deceased died at the scene due to the extensive injuries sustained.” 

Moekore didn’t stop or even slow down, court documents state. 

“The defendant drove along Great South Rd where she was observed by another road user to be speeding and tailgating another car. The road user also observed that the front bumper of the defendant’s car was hanging off, the hood was dented and smoke was coming from the car.” 

It didn’t take police long to track down Moekore. A member of the public called police after her front bumper, with her number plate attached, fell off her vehicle as she continued driving. 

Police arrived at her home several hours later, about 1.30am, and observed her to be “very intoxicated and agitated”. A breath test showed her blood alcohol level to be 1013 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath. The limit for drivers over 20 years old on learner’s permits is 250 micrograms. 

The Serious Crash Unit investigates the fatal vehicle crash on Great South Rd on the night of March 8 this year. Drink driver Tere Moekore has been sentenced for causing the death of 14-year-old Kaea Matau. Photo / Hayden Woodward 

Police recounted Moekore’s explanation: “She remembered seeing a person cross the road on Great South Rd. She did not see where the person came from but recalled that the person had not looked when crossing the road. She did not realise she had hit a person. She arrived home and realised her car was damaged. However, she was adamant she had not been in an accident.” 

Even after pleading guilty in August to drink driving causing death and failure to stop and ascertain injury - crimes carrying maximum sentences of 10 and five years’ imprisonment respectively - Moekore didn’t appear to grasp the seriousness of what she had done, the judge noted. He cited a pre-sentence report prepared by a probation officer in which she was said to have been defiant and dismissive of her speed and significant alcohol intake. 

“You described these as just ‘bullshit’, that you thought you were perfectly fine,” Judge Jonathan Moses said, adding that Moekore also “thought driving unaccompanied was perfectly fine because you’d been doing it for years”. 

Had Moekore been driving within the speed limit, both teens would have made it to the centre median safely, investigators surmised. 

Immense potential snuffed 

Matau played seven instruments, including viola, piano and double bass. His music teachers and orchestra played a selection of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart at his tangi. 

The Papatoetoe High School Year 10 student was a 1.93m (six-foot four-inch), 110kg “gentle giant” and a “big softie” whose family reckon he could have one day played prop for the All Blacks - or just as easily been a brilliant professor. 

He was a child immensely proud of his Māori and Samoan heritage, a skilled and enthusiastic apprentice to his father’s traditional carving skills. 

He was a social butterfly with a memorably big smile who lived for spending weekends and school holidays with his many cousins. 

“Kaea could sing like a tūī and would begin all our waiata,” his mum recalled through tears. “He dreamt of playing in different orchestras around the world. Kaea’s potential was limitless.” 

Kaea Matua, 14, was killed by drink driver Tere Moekore while crossing Great South Rd in Papatoetoe, South Auckland on the night of March 8 this year. 

The teenager’s aunts, cousins, sister, best friend and parents spent close to two hours during the sentencing hearing taking turns addressing Moekore, an uncommonly long period devoted to victim impact statements. A large framed photo of Matau was placed behind the dais where they each took turns standing. 

“He is an innocent soul and had a beautiful heart,” one cousin recalled after filling the courtroom with a mournful waiata. 

An aunt recalled his cheeky moments, such as when he would hurriedly pull out the vacuum cleaner at the end of the day, before his mum got home, and attack the chores he had been ignoring. He was always the tallest and chubbiest kid in his class but over the last year of his life had enjoyed spending time at the gym, flexing and posing for family when he got home, others said. 

In a dozen courtroom eulogies, family remembered the joy and love he brought them. But they also shared their anger. 

“The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, but you are not the Lord,” one of his aunts said. “You didn’t stop, didn’t hold his hand, didn’t even comfort him. Why? Why did you not do your duty of care? 

“You severed his lineage ... His story is cut short. I hope you understand the devastation you’ve caused. Our world will never be the same because you did this.” 

His sister added through sobs: “I can’t help thinking of my brother scared and helpless in his final moments ... You should be paying the consequences so no other whānau has to suffer.” 

Family members repeatedly thanked his best friend for being there to comfort him even if the driver wasn’t. 

“I still believe you have no remorse. Look at you!” his father yelled as the defendant stared straight ahead, not making eye contact. “I miss you my sweet, loving gentle giant. Your life was worth something, my son.” 

His mother sobbed as she stood at the lectern, then sat down and sobbed some more. The longtime NZ Post manager said she is no longer able to work, crippled by her loss. 

“Simply put, this person has ruined my life,” she said. “I am so broken. My son died in such a horrific way. 

“I will never be the same. I am not okay ... Look at how all my whānau are hurting. I’m a shell of the person I once was.” 

‘A monstrous thing’ 

After the victim impact statements finished, Crown prosecutor Bernadette Vaili asked the judge to consider a starting point of four and a half years’ imprisonment, while the defence sought a starting point of around three and a half years. 

“There is a real lack of remorse,” Vaili argued, also pointing out that it wasn’t Moekore’s first offence - she pleaded guilty in 2020 to driving when three times over the alcohol limit. 

Defence lawyer Kyle Macniel asked to address Matau’s family directly on his client’s behalf. He acknowledged that she appeared to have “shut down” during the hearing and might have seemed unrepentant, but that was because her inability to express herself tends to leave a “false impression”, he said. 

The judge interjected: “I’ve certainly noticed her behaviour seems to be lacking any remorse.” 

Kaea Matua, 14, was killed while crossing Great South Rd in Papatoetoe in March. He was hit by a car driven by Tere Moekore (inset), who was four times over the legal limit for alcohol on a learner's licence and travelling at 95km/h in a 50km/h zone. Photo / Alex Burton 

“That’s certainly how she presents,” Macniel conceded. “But it’s not the truth. She hears the pain, the anger, the sadness, the devastation. 

“She’s not a monster, but she had done a monstrous thing ... In no way does she blame the boys for what occurred.” 

Judge Moses declined to allow Moekore a discount for remorse. 

He settled on an end sentence of three years and two months’ imprisonment, preferring the longer starting point suggested by the Crown but allowing a standard 25% discount for her early guilty plea and 5% for rehabilitative steps she has taken since her arrest. 

The Serious Crash Unit investigates the fatal crash on Great South Rd on the night of March 8. Drink driver Tere Moekore has been sentenced for causing the death of 14-year-old Kaea Matau. Photo / Hayden Woodward 

“I hope ... that this has brought home for you the enormity of what you have done and the carnage you have created in this whānau,” he said, encouraging her upon release from prison to “spread the message with anyone you can that drinking and driving only causes chaos and sadness”. 

Before sending Moekore away to begin serving her sentence, the judge turned to the family and thanked them for making him feel like he knew Matau. 

He imagined what the teen would tell his family if he could: “Please move on. Please remember me, but please do your best to not let this ruin your lives in the future. 

“I’m sure that is something he would have wanted,” the judge said. 

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.