A Christchurch High Court jury has found Hayden Tasker guilty of murdering Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming and seriously injuring Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay after deliberately driving into the officers during New Year’s Day patrols in Nelson last year.
State media reported prosecutors argued Tasker used his vehicle as a weapon, accelerating toward the officers out of anger at police, while the defence claimed the intoxicated 33-year-old was suicidal and seeking to provoke a police chase rather than kill anyone.
After hearing from more than 40 witnesses and reviewing CCTV and cellphone footage, jurors rejected the manslaughter argument and concluded Tasker intentionally struck the officers. Fleming later died in hospital, becoming the first female police officer killed in the line of duty in New Zealand, while several others and members of the public were also injured during the chaotic incident in Buxton Square.
