A High Court judge has labelled the actions of a father responsible for the fiery death of his six-year-old son in a car crash as "targeted".
Niklas Gebhardt was driving near Rangiora at 130km/h through a corner with a suggested speed limit of just 25km/h.
The stretch of Lehmans Road has a speed limit of 80km/h, but Gebhardt was travelling at 130km/h when he failed to take a corner.
"This is more than 50km/h above the speed limit, and 105km/h more than the advisory speed limit for the 90-degree corner," said Justice Jan-Marie Doogue.
His six-year-old son Lachlan, seated in the back, was killed after Gebhardt's Mazda hit a stop bank and became airborne, crashing into a tree and catching fire.
"Your vehicle travelled approximately 24 metres through the air before it had impacted a tree seven metres higher than its take-off point," Justice Doogue told the court.
At sentencing, the court heard that after overtaking another car and avoiding an oncoming vehicle, there were no signs of braking or attempts to correct the vehicle's path in the 2019 crash.
"The path of your vehicle from the road to the stop bank was consistent, sustained and targeted."
Gebhardt was pulled from the wreckage by members of the public and flown to Christchurch Hospital with burns to 30 percent of his body.
Earlier this year, the 32-year-old pleaded guilty to manslaughter, maintaining the crash was not deliberate.
Victim impact statements from the family of Lachlan's mum were read to the court by a lawyer.
Gebhardt stood quietly in the dock, shaking his head as those statements claimed the crash was a calculated act.
"I believe this was a horrendous murder of my grandson Lachlan. It is in my mind all the time and will be for the rest of my life," Aaron Harvey read on behalf of Karen Manson.
Lachlan's mum, Gebhardt's ex-partner, wrote to the court that she re-lives the horror of the firey crash every time she drives Lehmans Road.
"I have to tell myself he was unconscious and he didn't feel any pain."
"No mother should have to attend the funeral of her six-year-old son," Justice Doogue said.
Gebhardt was sentenced to five years in prison and will be disqualified from driving for seven years when he is released.
