An elderly couple say they will never get to live the rest of their days the way they had hoped after a car crash in Gore stripped them of their independence. 

First-time offender Jake Hemi Aitcheson-Marwick, 20, was sentenced in the Gore District Court this week after pleading guilty on two charges of dangerous driving causing injury. 

On March 11, the defendant was driving at 112km/h in Main St — a 50km/h road. 

The court heard he passed at least one car before approaching an intersection where the victims’ car was. 

He pulled into the right-hand lane and braked in an attempt to avoid a collision, but hit the car at 69km/h. 

The vehicle went over the raised centre island, before coming to rest on the grass verge 38m away. 

The 83-year-old driver was flown to Dunedin Hospital where he stayed in the ICU for two weeks before being transferred to the recovery unit. 

He suffered an intra-abdominal bleed, a broken hip and a stroke, while his wife had injuries to her neck, back and hip. 

“I had to learn how to walk again ... I could not eat or drink without assistance,” the man said. 

“The way that I intended to live out the rest of my life has been taken away from me, and that is a hard pill to swallow.” 

The court heard the couple could no longer live in their house and had to move into a rest home to receive assistance after the crash. 

Judge Catriona Doyle accepted Aitcheson-Marwick was “extremely remorseful” and had taken responsibility for the incident. 

She said the offending had “life-altering permanent consequences for the people who are the victim of your dangerous driving”. 

Judge Doyle sentenced the Aitcheson-Marwick to four months’ community detention and ordered him to pay $2000 reparation to each victim. 

“This is going to sound like a light sentence for the victims in this matter who now have their own life sentence,” she said. 

She disqualified Aitcheson-Marwick from driving for 12 months, which she said was a “significant penalty” for someone his age. 

- Otago Daily Times