Palmerston North's Jack Greer sentenced for street race crash that killed teen Olivia Hintz

A young boy-racer, who participated in an early-morning street-race that ended in the death of a teenage girl, has been told by a judge to speak at his former school about what happened in a bid to discourage others from street-racing.

"Maybe the apology is you persuading others in your age group," a judge told 18-year-old Jack Greer at his recent sentencing.

"You went to Awatapu College. Go there, tell those young men about your experience, your lived experience and what happened."

However, Greer will have to wait until next year before he can give a talk about the mistakes he made on the night Olivia Hintz died, because he was sentenced to nine months' home detention.

While Hintz wasn't in his car and he didn't crash, he still took part in an illegal street-race that resulted in the other car crashing, killing the 16-year-old girl and severely injuring the driver.

According to the summary of facts, Greer had been at a work function on the evening of 31 October last year.

He left about 1am, the same time another driver, whom he did not know, left the same event.

Greer followed the car of the other driver, a then-17-year-old boy, who had Hintz and another passenger in the car with him.

As they travelled along Fitzherbert Ave in Palmerston North, Greer overtook the other car at an intersection, travelling more than 100km/h.

He then received a call from the other passenger, whom he knew, challenging him to another race.

One of the main roads in the city, John F Kennedy Drive, was agreed upon and the two cars pulled up beside one another at 1.45am, before taking off.

Greer's car reached a speed of up to 142km/h on the suburban street, but the driver of the other car lost control just 600m into the race, as he entered a corner, eventually striking a tree.

Hintz died at the scene, and the driver suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent a month in a specialist rehabilitation centre.

That driver appeared in the Youth Court in June, meaning he can not be named, and was sentenced to six months' supervision. He was ordered to pay $5000 to Hintz's family and $2000 to the other passenger.

However, because Greer was over 18, his case went to the District Court, where he was charged with causing Hintz's death by way of his participation in the race.

'Peers make each other think'

At his sentencing, Judge Bruce Northwood said that, to Greer's credit, after the crash, he stopped and did a U-turn to check on the occupants.

"All too often in court, we deal with crash cases and somebody runs," he said. "They do not take responsibility.

"They leave the scene and the destruction behind."

In a pre-sentence report, Greer said he had persistent thoughts about the crash and had sold the 1998 Subaru Legacy he'd driven that night.

He had done restorative justice with Hintz's family, apologised to them and agreed to write them letters as well. There was also talk between Greer and Hintz's family about contributing to a campaign to make streets safer.

Greer received discounts for an early guilty plea, youth and for his remorse, but when it came to emotional-harm reparation, lawyer Philip Drummond suggested he speak at local school assemblies instead.

"It has the potential to send a powerful message to the age group that are at risk," he said. "The reality is teens do not give any thought to the potential for something to go wrong and what seems like good fun can turn into tragedy."

Drummond's idea followed the sentencing of the youth who was driving the other car that night, where his sentencing judge suggested he connect with vulnerable young people to dissuade them from adopting "the boy-racer bravado".

"These are the vulnerable young people who could be swayed," Judge Jill Moss told the youth. "Peers make each other think."

Judge Northwood said his colleague, Judge Moss, said that Greer and the other driver had a role in helping people "not be the fools you and he were that night".

As such, Judge Northwood didn't order Greer to make an emotional-harm payment at his sentencing, but said that, by way of an apology to the family, he could speak to students at Awatapu College, where he attended, to talk about what happened.

Greer's lawyer told NZME that his client intended to do this as soon as his home detention sentence ended in roughly seven months.

Awatapu College principal Gary Yeatman said he would be open to the possibility of Greer speaking at an assembly.

* This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald.