The High Court has overturned Daniel Rikiti’s three-year jail sentence for reckless driving causing death after an administrative error led to a crucial letter not reaching the sentencing judge.
The letter, which outlined mitigating circumstances and factual disputes—such as the condition of the vehicle and Rikiti’s personal situation—was meant to inform sentencing but was never seen by the Rotorua District Court.
Justice Michael Robinson ruled that, in these “unusual and regrettable circumstances,” the sentence must be quashed and a new hearing held.
The victim’s fiancée, Tanya Anderson, said the prolonged legal process has deepened her trauma and called for justice to finally be delivered.
Image credit: Feyza Yildirim
No justice in this back water, I’m afraid.