11 Jun 2015

Tourist driver appeals jail sentence

11:16 am on 11 June 2015

A Chinese tourist sent to jail for 18 months for a crash which killed an Oamaru girl is appealing against the severity of his sentence.

Jing Cao

Jing Cao Photo: RNZ / Ian Telfer

Jing Cao was jailed in the Dunedin district court on Tuesday for dangerous driving causing the death of five-year-old Ruby Marris and seriously injuring four other members of the Marris family and his own mother.

Cao's car was on the wrong side of the road and collided head-on with the Marris family's vehicle near Moeraki in North Otago in February.

As well as jailing Cao, the judge ordered reparations and payments totalling more than $61,000.

Cao's defence barrister, Anne Stevens, confirmed an appeal was lodged with the High Court yesterday against the sentence.

She would not disclose the specific appeal points, which she said would become public at the appeal hearing.