The fatal 21st birthday party crash that will forever haunt a drink driver

On the night of his 21st birthday party, Clark Stewart made a decision that will likely haunt him for the rest of his life.

Drunk, he got behind the wheel of a car overloaded with his mates. Several minutes later, he crashed into a tree at high speed in rural Canterbury, killing a 23-year-old man, and badly injuring the other four passengers, two of whom were thrown from the vehicle.

But when Stewart appeared for sentencing late on Monday morning in the Ashburton District Court, aided by crutches and with a brace on his leg, families of his victims who’d packed the public gallery weren’t there to yell abuse at him.

Instead, they wanted the judge to spare him from jail. They also wanted the crash to serve as a reminder to others about how bad decision-making can so quickly end in tragedy.

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In an emotional statement to the court, the mother of the 23-year-old man, whose name is suppressed, said she would never forget the night police knocked on her door and said her son had been killed.

His death had “left a massive void and heartache in our lives”.

“To say we are devastated and miss [my son ]… is an understatement.

“I don’t want [his] life to become a waste of life and a road toll statistic. I believe with [his] big heart he would want to … help people to make better decisions in reflection of what has happened. Before getting behind the wheel or being passenger in a car, please stop and think ‘what could happen here in worst case scenario?’. Life is so fragile and taken so quickly and forever.”

The woman said her son loved his friends, and would “want the very best outcome for everyone” from the sentencing.

Judge Campbell Savage said the facts of the case “were an absolute tragedy”.

“An evening which should have been a memorable one … has turned into a nightmare, and has undoubtedly changed the course of so many young lives.”

Savage said it was unusual for cases of drink-driving causing death not to result in a term of imprisonment, however it was not an “inflexible policy, or inevitable consequence”.

The judge said that in the lead up to sentencing he’d received an array of submissions and character references.

They talked of how Stewart was a selfless friend, a community volunteer and someone who got on well with people from all walks of life.

People were shocked to learn the 21-year-old had driven while under the influence. Usually, he organised sober drivers, and had been known to stop others from getting behind the wheel after they’d been drinking.

Savage said that on the night of the crash there was no suggestion Stewart was showboating, or anyone had been telling him to slow down.

While he’d been drinking, he was not grossly over the limit, and his speed was not “greatly excessive”.

Since the crash, Stewart had been in regular contact with the victims’ families, meeting with them for restorative justice sessions, and “it seems their welfare is of greater importance to you than your own”.

He’d also suffered serious injuries, which would likely leave him with a “lifelong physical impairment”.

In sentencing Stewart to 11 months’ home detention, and disqualifying him from driving for two years, Savage said he’d given significant discounts for Stewart’s early guilty pleas, previously unblemished record, age, good character and “extreme” remorse.

“I’m satisfied that your actions are a reflection on the poor decisions that youths sometimes make without yet fully appreciating the consequences.

“I sincerely hope that with the fullness of time you find the ability to forgive yourself – that’s going to be key to your future.

“If you go out and live the life that you’re capable of, the potential that you no doubt have, you will be doing a great service to the memory of your fallen friend, so I wish you well for the future.”

According to the summary of facts, Stewart got behind the wheel of his Peugeot hatchback at his family’s mid-Canterbury farm in Mainwarings Rd, Dorie, where he’d been celebrating his 21st birthday, on October 15, 2022. Five of his close mates piled in too. One was in the boot.

Unbeknown to other revellers, the group was heading out to get supplies from the nearby mid-Canterbury town of Rakaia. Stewart, the son of a veteran rural volunteer firefighter, had been drinking.

It’s unclear why, but several minutes later, as he drove at about 128kmh along nearby Gardiners Rd, a straight, tar-sealed rural road, he veered right then over-corrected, lost control of the car and slid sideways into a tree about 8pm.

By the time the car had stopped the steering wheel had been pushed into the front passenger seat, where the 23-year-old man was killed almost instantly.

Of the three who weren’t wearing seatbelts, one lay unconscious on the ground outside, not far from a man, who had been thrown out of the boot. All the survivors were either seriously or critically injured.

When spoken to later by police, Stewart, whose actual birthday was eight days before the crash, said he recalled drinking at the party and having dinner.

After that, his next memory was sitting in the driver’s seat of his mangled car, talking to emergency services.

Testing revealed Stewart’s blood alcohol level was 94mg per 100ml of blood. The legal blood alcohol limit is 50mg.

In April, nearly six months on from the crash, Stewart appeared for the first time in the Ashburton District Court via video-link from Christchurch Hospital, and pleaded guilty to driving with excess blood alcohol causing death, and driving with excess blood alcohol causing injury.

The names of the survivors, and details of their injuries are suppressed.