Driver sentenced over death of top policeman

A truck driver who ran over and killed a senior Wellington police officer has been ordered to pay $2000 emotional reparation and disqualified from driving for nine months.

Steve Fitzgerald, a 41-year police veteran and former head of the road policing unit, was cycling home from work when he went under the wheels of an articulated truck at the roundabout intersection of The Esplanade and Hutt Rd in Petone in June 2008.

The driver, Desmond Wilson, 46, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of careless driving causing death.

However he was found to be at fault in a ruling issued last month.

Wilson  was sentenced at Wellington District Court this morning.

Wilson's lawyer Phil Calver said the moment of carelessness had led to the "tragic consequences", with "immense" on-going effects.

Wilson had found it difficult to move on from the accident, had been diagnosed with depression, lost his job and was returning to stay with family for a time, he said.

Judge Broadmore accepted that the collision happened at twilight on one of the shortest days of the year, though said conditions were otherwise "fine and fair".

Police had argued that as he turned into the roundabout, his trailer unit crossed into a 1.5-metre- wide shoulder where Mr Fitzgerald was riding his mountain bike.

But defence lawyers and their specialists believed Mr Fitzgerald had come from behind the truck and veered into its lane.

At the sentencing, Judge Tom Broadmore said he was satisfied Mr Wilson honestly did not see Mr Fitzgerald.

He referred to a moving victim impact statement from Mr Fitzgerald's wife.

Judge Broadmore's decision followed a three-day trial in Lower Hutt District Court in August.

- with NZPA

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