The tearful father of an Auckland finance manager fatally struck by a car said the young driver, who went through a red light, has shown no remorse. 

Robert Spooner and his family made the difficult decision to take Gregory John Spooner, 38, off life support after he suffered serious head injuries. 

He was hit by a car that had travelled through a red light as he walked across a pedestrian crossing near the intersection of Ponsonby Rd and Hopetoun St on the dark, rainy evening of May 31, 2020. 

He died in hospital a week later on June 7. 

"You have broken our hearts, you have deeply hurt us," Robert Spooner said at Jack Fisher's sentencing this morning at Auckland District Court. 

"In the past 20 months you've made no attempt to show remorse to us. 

"The only remorse you have is for yourself and no one else." 

But Judge Kirsten Lummis, who was also tearful, said Fisher is "not a bad person" and she has "no doubt" that his remorse is genuine. 

"He is not a bad person but he has done a bad thing," she said. 

Fisher, 24, could be heard crying in the back of the courtroom. 

He pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death. He was aged 22 at the time of the incident. 

Fisher was sentenced today to 200 hours of community work and ordered to pay $13,000 in reparation. He is also disqualified from driving for 10 months. 

Spooner's father said he received a call from an Auckland Hospital surgeon that every parent doesn't want to receive - that his son had been hit by a car at 7.15pm on May 31 and he was in hospital with a severe head injury. 

"The next morning we went straight to hospital, went into critical care to see our beloved son lying unconscious in bandages and barely keeping alive. 

"It was clear it was extremely serious and it was clear they did not expect him to live." 

Spooner's twin Michael lives in Melbourne and could not return home to say goodbye to his brother or attend the funeral. He attended the court hearing via audio visual link. 

The family are still waiting, more than 20 months on, to scatter Spooner's ashes when his twin brother can finally return to New Zealand, the court heard. 

Spooner was remembered for his extensive travel overseas, how he spoke two languages, and his love of art and collecting New Zealand silver and antiques. 

He obtained a degree in law and commerce and was admitted to the bar. He was a chartered accountant and had an "incredible memory", his father said. 

"To society, Gregory is just a statistic, just another number. But to us ... he was so much more," Spooner's mother Jean wrote in a victim impact statement read to the court by a family friend. 

"How will I ever get over needlessly losing a son?" 

"Gregory was one of the good people in this world." 

His mother said she has attended court twice in her life – today and when her son was admitted to the bar. 

A minute's silence was observed after victim impact statements were read in court. 

"It's quite obvious Gregory Spooner was an exceptional individual and had managed to pack a lot in to his life and it's no surprise we hear ... that his friends and family have suffered an unspeakable loss," said Crown lawyer Jacob Barry. 

Spooner began working for accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton in Auckland in April after working in financial services for many years in London. 

Russell Moore, National Managing Partner, said Spooner made a big impact in a short amount of time with the company at the time of his death. 

"Even in the short time he worked with us, he made a hugely positive contribution to the role and developed great relationships with his colleagues. Gregory will be sadly missed; our thoughts are with his family and friends," Moore said. 

Today, defence lawyer Andrew Speed acknowledged the Spooner family's "profound sense of loss". 

Speed said driving conditions were difficult on the night of May 31, and the driver's failure to exercise care "has been tragic". 

"It's his poor driving that brings him here today," Judge Kirsten Lummis said. 

She said his failure to stop at a red light was "nothing short of catastrophic". 

"The pain and the grief that you went through while [Spooner] was in critical care was horrific," Judge Lummis said to his family present in court. 

"Covid has been cruel in adding to your grief, and added to the pain of separated family at this time." 

She said it was "a pity" that Fisher felt he could not carry out restorative justice with the Spooner family due to legal advice he was given. 

"I have watched Mr Fisher in court, I have no doubt the remorse is genuine." 

Judge Lummis said no alcohol or speed was involved in the crash.