A petition calling for tougher sentencing of a 19-year-old hit and run driver was delivered to Parliament on Tuesday by the victim's parents.
Fifteen-year-old Nathan Kraatskow was killed in May by teenager Rouxle Le Roux. Le Roux was sentenced to 11 months' home detention and 250 hours community service on Friday for dangerous driving causing death.
She admitted she had drunk wine and smoked cannabis before she got behind the wheel. She failed to stop at the scene, and did not turn herself into police until after she had visited a panelbeater the following morning.
The victim's parents want a tougher sentence, and say that Le Roux showed no remorse for killing their child.
- Rouxle Le Roux: 'Jail sentence may be appropriate' for hit-and-run driver - law expert
- Rouxle Le Roux: Social media posts claim 'privilege' at play in sentencing
Charlene Kraatskow, Nathan's mother, said: "We heard that on Friday night, she had a freedom party after the sentencing because she was free. And also, outside the courtroom we had her friends drive past, three girls in a car screaming 'She's free! She's free!'"
However, Wellington barrister Graeme Edgeler told RadioLIVE that 11 months' home detention is a harsh sentence for a first-time offender.
"It's a conviction that this woman will have forever. Courts don't treat it as terribly different than a prison sentence," he said.
"It could have been harsher, but it's a lot more than nothing".
The petition was led by Nathan's parent, and will now be tabled in Parliament.
Newshub.
