Drunk teenage driver jailed for killing mum and toddler
A teenager has been sentenced to four years and three months in jail for killing a young mother and her daughter after getting behind the wheel drunk.
Aizaeah Tarawa, 19, was speeding drunk when he crashed head-on into a family travelling along a highway north of Auckland in New Zealand, on March 30, the New Zealand Herald reported after he was sentenced on Tuesday.
Tarawa killed 20-year-old mother Janiah Fairburn and her two-year-old daughter, Azarliyah. Fairburn’s partner Henare Hadfield, now 21, suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung and the couple’s one-year-old son, Te Tairawhiti, suffered a fractured neck.
In New Zealand for a driver aged 20 and under, the legal blood-alcohol concentration limit is zero. Tarawa recorded 768 micrograms of alcohol per litre of breath, the legal limit for drivers aged over 20 is 250 micrograms.
Tarawa had two previous drink driving convictions.
After the collision, Tarawa fled the scene with relatives who were in the car behind him. His 16-year-old sister was reportedly in the car with him.
Police apprehended him soon after. Tarawa denied driving, claiming he didn’t remember the crash as he had been asleep, the New Zealand Herald reported.
During sentencing, Tarawa heard statements from Fairburn’s family, detailing how the deaths have impacted their lives.
Mr Hadfield relayed how his partner was selfless and how she taught him “about happiness and life”.
He said the couple had a lot of dreams for the future and they had spoken just that night about changes they were hoping to make.
Mr Hadfield said he would one day have to tell his son what happened to his mother and sister, and he hoped with counselling he would be prepared to do so. His son may never fully recover from spinal injuries sustained in the crash.
William Fairburn, Janiah’s father and Azarliyah’s grandfather, said he was struggling from depression following the fatal crash and has only been able to return to work part time.
"My life has been changed forever, I will never be the same. A massive part of my life has been taken away,” he said addressing Tarawa.
Tarawa plead guilty to the charges of excess breath alcohol causing death and excess breath alcohol causing injury.
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