Family’s fury at ‘pathetic’ justice system after killer drink-driver has sentence cut

The children of a woman killed by a drink-driver who had dozens of previous motoring convictions have branded a judge’s decision to cut his sentence “sickening”.

Damian and Emma Hands said the justice system was “unfair” and designed to “protect even clear-cut guilty criminals” after Justice Jonathan Eaton slashed five months from a jail term handed to Brian Ralph Lewis.

Lewis, who had already been convicted 10 times for drink-driving, was more than three times the legal limit when his car weaved across a West Coast road on April 30 last year and ploughed into one driven by Kathy Sexton.

Sexton was killed, and her two young passengers both almost died.

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Lewis was jailed in Greymouth District Court for three years and two months in March, a sentence which Emma Hands called “pathetic”.

But now she and her family are further heartbroken after Justice Eaton reduced it to two years and nine months following an appeal by Lewis, deciding the sentencing judge was wrong to have increased it after hearing victim impact statements.

Damian Hands said: “It’s such a disappointment, after all the effort friends and family have put in to try and maximise his sentence, only to have it removed a couple of months later by the High Court.

“The system set to protect us doesn’t work any more. The fact he had so many priors makes it feel very unjust. We are very angry, hugely upset and tired.

“Not just angry at the offender … but also at the unfair system that is clearly there to protect even clear-cut guilty criminals. I don’t get to seek appeal for my mother’s life, so why should he – he’s pleaded guilty.”

Emma Hands said the family had been left with a “life sentence” and feeling that they had not had justice.

“This has changed my life in such a terrible way. He is a criminal, a gutless selfish man, and my mum – my best friend – was loving, kind and generous.

“I can’t believe that her life was taken by him and he got such a pathetic sentence, which is now even less. It makes me physically sick.”

Lewis was jailed after admitting charges of drink-driving causing death and two counts of drink-driving causing injury following the crash near Stillwater, about 20km east of Greymouth.

Lewis, who was himself seriously injured in the crash, had 43 previous driving convictions – seven for either careless or dangerous driving and 26 for driving while disqualified, along with the 10 for drink-driving.

Following his appeal to the High Court that the sentence was “manifestly excessive”, Justice Eaton reduced it.

He said Lewis had pleaded guilty after the district court judge indicated his sentence could start at three years and six months in prison, with a further 15% to reflect his criminal history, and 20% off for his plea.

However, at sentencing, when new victim impact statements were read from one of the teenage victims, Sexton’s daughter and the other victim’s mother, the judge increased the starting point to three years and 10 months.

Eaton said the district court judge described hearing the statements “a moving experience” that had brought home “the wide, deep and long-lasting effects of this tragedy”.

Lewis’ lawyer argued he did not have chance to address the increase before sentencing, and said the credit given him for his injuries and the difficulty prison would pose him was “miserly”.

Justice Eaton said increasing jail time to reflect victim impact statements was “novel” and “a practice to be discouraged”.

“It runs the risk of victims of offending inquiring as to why, in another similar case, a higher uplift was applied.”