A 71-year-old grandfather has been convicted of careless driving causing death, following a farming accident that killed his wife and two grandsons last year.
At his sentencing in Ohakune District Court, judge Jonathan Krebs let Michael Hiscox off without punishment, acknowledging the trauma he and his family have been through.
Members of the defendant’s family were in court today and had written victim impact statements in support of Hiscox asking the judge to not take any further action as “he has suffered enough, as have they".
Hiscox was driving a side-by-side vehicle on his Raetihi farm in June 2020, when it slipped into a dam.
He was able to free himself but his wife and two young grandsons died.
In court, Judge Krebs said the two-seater vehicle was overloaded and the passengers were not wearing seatbelts. One of his grandsons had stood up and touched the accelerator before it crashed.
“I accept, of course, that this was an accident but it is clear that there were steps that you took which allowed the accident to happen,” said Judge Krebs.
He denied Hiscox's application for name suppression but ordered that the names of the victims are not used in further media reporting.
