Niklas Gebhardt, a Rangiora father who killed his six-year-old son in a car crash, has successfully appealed his sentence. He was sentenced to five years and disqualified from driving for seven years upon release.
Gebhardt had picked Lachlan up from a public swimming pool in November 2019 and was driving north on a rural road with a speed limit of 80 km/h when he overtook another vehicle and accelerated up to 130 km/h through a corner and over a stop bank, causing his car to become airborne, hit a tree, spin out, and catch fire.
Gebhardt was extracted from the car by a member of the public, but Lachlan remained inside and died at the scene. Gebhardt sustained a fractured femur, facial injuries, and burns to approximately 30% of his body. He spent ten days in a drug-induced coma and a total of six weeks in hospital.
At appeal, Gebhardt’s lawyer Genevive Vear claimed the sentence and disqualification period were “manifestly excessive” as his culpability had been overstated and his lack of intoxication mistakenly characterised as an aggravating factor instead of a neutral one. Vear also claimed Gebhardt had received insufficient discount for his physical and psychological injuries and remorse.
The appeal was filed more than 14 months late, and Vear said that the court had been wrong to equate the absence of an alternative explanation for Gebhardt not turning or braking his vehicle with evidence he had done so deliberately.
The Crown considered any suggestion of an alternative explanation for his actions unfounded, and it agreed that the inference could be made that Gebhardt had deliberately crashed his car.
The Court of Appeal found the 10 percent discount for personal factors was appropriate but noted that Gebhardt’s end sentence had been miscalculated.
Justice Doogue had considered a 35 percent discount to be deducted from a starting point of seven years and six months imprisonment.
Still, an end sentence of five years’ imprisonment was imposed, which was a 33 percent discount. The length of disqualification was unjustified as Gebhardt had no recollection of the incident, and the severe grief that resulted from his actions would continue for the rest of his life.
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