A “deeply remorseful” Canadian coach has admitted causing the head-on crash that seriously injured schoolgirl hockey players on Sunday.
A mini-van carrying touring under-16 and under-18 schoolgirl hockey players en route from Napier to Tauranga crashed into a Jeep SUV on State Highway 5 at Rangitaiki, near Taupō.
Mini-van driver Renee Kelly Vanry, 57, reappeared in the Tauranga District Court today.
Court documents show she had been travelling with the teams, which arrived in New Zealand on March 16.
Police said Vanry was overtaking and still on the wrong side of the road when the oncoming Jeep rounded the corner.
The collision sent the van airborne and into a ditch. The drivers were uninjured but four passengers in the van suffered serious injuries. Two remain in Waikato Hospital. Seven others were assessed and discharged on Sunday.
Vanry initially faced 10 charges of careless driving causing injury to victims of the crash, and one of careless driving.
In court, Police prosecutor Sergeant Tina Smallman asked Community Magistrate Sherida Cooper to withdraw six of the careless driving causing injury charges.
Vanry’s lawyer David Pawson entered guilty pleas to the remaining five charges on her behalf.
Pawson said Vanry was “very upset” and “deeply remorseful” and was willing to pay $1000 emotional harm and $1050 reparation to the female Jeep driver, who was fully insured.
He said Vanry also wanted to pay $1000 emotional harm payments to each of four injured occupants of the van who remained in hospital.
This was despite their families being “very supportive” of her, and not seeking the payments.
Pawson said the van Vanry was driving was covered by rental insurance.
Community Magistrate Cooper ordered Vanry to pay $1000 emotional harm and $1050 reparation to the Jeep driver and a total of $4000 emotional harm to the victims in hospital.
Vanry was also disqualified from driving for six months.
She lifted interim orders suppressing Vanry’s name and details of her profession after Pawson invited her to do so.
The Bay of Plenty Times previously reported the teams had played in Napier and been on their way to Tauranga for more games when the crash happened.
In a written statement after sentencing, Taupō police Senior Sergeant Fane Troy said Vanry had taken responsibility for her actions, allowing the judicial process to be expedited.
“Her misjudgment has had a profound impact on the lives of her passengers, the other driver, and her own.”
He said the crash could have been “so much worse” if not for everyone wearing seatbelts.
More to come
Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 24 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
