Adam Michael Rapson at his sentencing in the High Court at Christchurch on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The family of Zara Mitchell have expressed their forgiveness for the teenager who caused her death in September last year.
Adam Michael Rapson was behind the wheel of a car which smashed into a house near Rangiora after fleeing police early on 17 September.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to three and a half years' jail.
Rapson was an 18-year-old learner driver at the time of the crash, had smoked a significant amount of cannabis, the vehicle was not road-worthy, and had been pink-stickered.
Just hours before the crash, he had been directed to drive straight home at no more than 50km/h by a police officer.
But little over two hours later, police were called to a report of illegal street racing in the Fernside area about 4.45am.
An officer noted the vehicle Rapson was driving was subject to a non-operation order.
Police pursued briefly, but abandoned it due to the manner of his driving.
A summary of facts said Rapson was driving the vehicle at speeds of 167km/h to 178km/h in a 50km/h zone.
Soon after, police found the vehicle crashed into a house after it appeared to have hit a tree.
The vehicle was travelling about 140km/h when Rapson lost control, according to the summary of facts.
Zara Mitchell died at the scene.
Two others were injured as a result of the crash.
But Mitchell's family took the opportunity to express their sympathy and forgiveness for Rapson when he appeared in the High Court on Tuesday afternoon.
"I believe Adam has hit rock-bottom and the choices he made that night, he has to live with forever," Mitchell's mother Anna told the court.
"He has taken responsibility for his actions, even donating all his savings to help pay for the cost of her funeral."
Rapson had written a letter to the family expressing his deep remorse his decisions on that morning.
"He wrote how [Mitchell] was trying to convince him to get his life together and get on the straight and narrow," Anna said.
She described her 18-year-old daughter as the light of the world and a mother hen to her younger siblings.
One of Mitchell's younger sisters told the court she had got to know Rapson since the death of her sister.
Instead of growing to resent him, she had instead grown to respect and forgive him.
"He has shown nothing but honesty, remorse and respect for my family," she said.
Justice Rachel Dunningham was moved by the family's sentiments.
"These are powerful statements and I express my admiration for Zara's family in being so forgiving in the face of such a loss."
Rapson was earlier convicted of one count of manslaughter, two of dangerous driving causing injury, one of fleeing the police, one of driving unaccompanied on a learner licence, and one of driving a vehicle ordered off the road.
The now 19-year-old was also disqualified from driving for three years after leaving prison.
