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Two articles here.
A Maori kills a White child in a deliberate car crash, the father is in critical condition, and the ONLY thing the Maoris' family is upset about is the bad publicity!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3282383a11,00.html
Death driver in psych unit
16 May 2005
By LUCY REED, JUSTINE TURNER AND NZPA
The man behind the wheel of a car that crashed in Tokoroa on Saturday, killing an eight-year-old boy and leaving his father in a critical condition in hosp
ital, has been transferred to a mental health unit.
Pehi Rangi, 24, was allegedly driving the Holden Commodore when it ploughed into the back of another car, trapping Liam Cooper, eight, inside.
The car was shunted into a power transformer and burst into flames.
Liam's father, Mark Cooper, today was in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital while the car's driver, Rowan Pringle, was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital.
Mr Pringle's father Mike said his son was "pretty badly smashed up" with injuries to his pelvis, face and leg.
Yesterday he had no feeling in his lower body, but Mike Prin
gle said there had been some improvement overnight.
"Last night he had a very slight feeling in his foot." The 31-year-old was awaiting an operation to his pelvis.
Mr Cooper was badly burnt in the fire.
Mike Pringle said police had told him they had serious concerns about how the crash happened, and the mental state of the driver of the Commodore.
Constable Marian Polyblank
said the Commodore rear-ended two others in Tokoroa's town centre soon after police had received reports of a speeding car.
Motocheck records show the vehicle's registration had lapsed.
Mike Pringle said his son told him the car did not slow down.
Mr Rangi's family reacted angrily this morning to news reports about the crash. A family spokesperson said there were two sides to the story. The family had hired Hamilton lawyer Matthew Bates, who told the Waikato Times he would be speaking to Mr Rangi today.
Police would not say what charges would be laid.
The Cooper family had moved to Tokoroa about 15 months ago.
They were on their way to a soccer game in Matamata when the crash occurred.
Tokoroa Netball Centre management committee member Colleen Barrett said the crash caused a power cut at the pavilion.
The crash happened in a 60km/h speed zone near the war memorial sports ground and police struggled to keep hundreds of spectators away.
Bystanders with fire extinguishers
ran to help.
The Westpac Waikato air ambulance, the Taupo-based Lion Foundation rescue helicopter and Rotorua's Tenon rescue helicopter flew the victims to Waikato Hospital.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10125893
An innocent life wiped out at 180km/h
Liam Cooper was a gifted soccer player. One the morning of his death he scored a decisive goal.
17.05.05
By JULIET ROWAN and NICOLA BOYES
Liam Cooper's middle name was Attrayu. His mother, Simone, chose it because it was the name of the boy warrior in the 80s film The Neverending Story.
Now, Mrs Cooper has been left with anger and a gaping hole in her heart because her 8-year-old, soccer-loving boy
warrior is dead, killed when a car driven at up to 180km/h ploughed into the car in which he was a passenger on Saturday in Tokoroa.
"I feel very angry that someone should take the life of my little boy," Mrs Cooper said yesterday.
Li
am was a Year 4 student at Tokoroa North School and a gifted soccer player, playing two grades above his age in an under-11 team.
His mother said his talent had earned him a place in an elite squad cultivating young players to play at international level, but he had never let it get to his head.
"He was always humble in terms of his soccer ability."
The morning of the day Liam died, he scored a goal that gave his team a 3-3 draw with five minutes of the game to go.
Mrs Cooper sobbed as she spoke about her son, who she said was loving and admired by other children.
Her grief has been made infinitely worse by the fact that her husband, Mark, was in the car with Liam and remained last night in a critical condition in Waikato Hospital.
A respected
soccer coach and baker, he had yet to learn that the oldest of his three children is dead.
The pair had been on their way to Matamata to watch the Tokoroa senior men's team, which Mr Cooper coaches, w
hen the crash happened.
The car they were in was driven by the team's goalkeeper, Rowan Pringle, who was also injured.
They were pushed off the road by a Holden Commodore driven by Pehi Rangi, 24, smashing into a power transformer and catching fire.
No charges have been laid against Mr Rangi, who is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
Police said at least five motorists had to take evasive action to avoid head-on collisions with the Holden.
Trevor Wilson could have put his hand out of his car window and touched the speeding Holden with the number plate "Hlspwn" hurtling into Tokoroa on Saturday afternoon.
His car, towing a trailer laden with wood, was one of the last overtaken by the car doing about 180km/h just moments before the crash.
"It gave me a fright. I thought he was
going to crash, then he did. It was the most freaky thing I have seen in my life."
Mr Wilson thought of his own two children as he tried to help the C
oopers and Mr Pringle.
Barbara Augustina, who lives across the road from the accident site, just past the netball courts where hundreds of people were playing sport, said the scene was horrific and the feeling in Tokoroa was one of complete unfairness.
"The person who caused the accident has survived, and as usual it's the innocent one that gets it."
Ms Augustina said speed was often a problem on the main road leading into Tokoroa.
"It was an accident waiting to happen. It says 60km/h but that's not what everybody does - some people are flying along there."
The Herald understands that Mr Rangi has a history of mental illness and has been transferred to a mental health unit for psychiatric assessment.
His family, from Atiamuri, hung up when the Herald phoned yesterday.
Mrs Cooper said she felt deep sadness about the circumsta
nces of the crash.
"If it wasn't our family, it would have been another family." <
br>
Liam's maternal grandmother, Pat Ellis, said she was very bitter.
"Why the hell didn't he [Mr Rangi] pick a bank or a tree?"
A Maori kills a White child in a deliberate car crash, the father is in critical condition, and the ONLY thing the Maoris' family is upset about is the bad publicity!!!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3282383a11,00.html
Death driver in psych unit
16 May 2005
By LUCY REED, JUSTINE TURNER AND NZPA
The man behind the wheel of a car that crashed in Tokoroa on Saturday, killing an eight-year-old boy and leaving his father in a critical condition in hosp
ital, has been transferred to a mental health unit.
Pehi Rangi, 24, was allegedly driving the Holden Commodore when it ploughed into the back of another car, trapping Liam Cooper, eight, inside.
The car was shunted into a power transformer and burst into flames.
Liam's father, Mark Cooper, today was in a critical condition in Middlemore Hospital while the car's driver, Rowan Pringle, was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital.
Mr Pringle's father Mike said his son was "pretty badly smashed up" with injuries to his pelvis, face and leg.
Yesterday he had no feeling in his lower body, but Mike Prin
gle said there had been some improvement overnight.
"Last night he had a very slight feeling in his foot." The 31-year-old was awaiting an operation to his pelvis.
Mr Cooper was badly burnt in the fire.
Mike Pringle said police had told him they had serious concerns about how the crash happened, and the mental state of the driver of the Commodore.
Constable Marian Polyblank
said the Commodore rear-ended two others in Tokoroa's town centre soon after police had received reports of a speeding car.
Motocheck records show the vehicle's registration had lapsed.
Mike Pringle said his son told him the car did not slow down.
Mr Rangi's family reacted angrily this morning to news reports about the crash. A family spokesperson said there were two sides to the story. The family had hired Hamilton lawyer Matthew Bates, who told the Waikato Times he would be speaking to Mr Rangi today.
Police would not say what charges would be laid.
The Cooper family had moved to Tokoroa about 15 months ago.
They were on their way to a soccer game in Matamata when the crash occurred.
Tokoroa Netball Centre management committee member Colleen Barrett said the crash caused a power cut at the pavilion.
The crash happened in a 60km/h speed zone near the war memorial sports ground and police struggled to keep hundreds of spectators away.
Bystanders with fire extinguishers
ran to help.
The Westpac Waikato air ambulance, the Taupo-based Lion Foundation rescue helicopter and Rotorua's Tenon rescue helicopter flew the victims to Waikato Hospital.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?ObjectID=10125893
An innocent life wiped out at 180km/h
Liam Cooper was a gifted soccer player. One the morning of his death he scored a decisive goal.
17.05.05
By JULIET ROWAN and NICOLA BOYES
Liam Cooper's middle name was Attrayu. His mother, Simone, chose it because it was the name of the boy warrior in the 80s film The Neverending Story.
Now, Mrs Cooper has been left with anger and a gaping hole in her heart because her 8-year-old, soccer-loving boy
warrior is dead, killed when a car driven at up to 180km/h ploughed into the car in which he was a passenger on Saturday in Tokoroa.
"I feel very angry that someone should take the life of my little boy," Mrs Cooper said yesterday.
Li
am was a Year 4 student at Tokoroa North School and a gifted soccer player, playing two grades above his age in an under-11 team.
His mother said his talent had earned him a place in an elite squad cultivating young players to play at international level, but he had never let it get to his head.
"He was always humble in terms of his soccer ability."
The morning of the day Liam died, he scored a goal that gave his team a 3-3 draw with five minutes of the game to go.
Mrs Cooper sobbed as she spoke about her son, who she said was loving and admired by other children.
Her grief has been made infinitely worse by the fact that her husband, Mark, was in the car with Liam and remained last night in a critical condition in Waikato Hospital.
A respected
soccer coach and baker, he had yet to learn that the oldest of his three children is dead.
The pair had been on their way to Matamata to watch the Tokoroa senior men's team, which Mr Cooper coaches, w
hen the crash happened.
The car they were in was driven by the team's goalkeeper, Rowan Pringle, who was also injured.
They were pushed off the road by a Holden Commodore driven by Pehi Rangi, 24, smashing into a power transformer and catching fire.
No charges have been laid against Mr Rangi, who is undergoing psychiatric evaluation.
Police said at least five motorists had to take evasive action to avoid head-on collisions with the Holden.
Trevor Wilson could have put his hand out of his car window and touched the speeding Holden with the number plate "Hlspwn" hurtling into Tokoroa on Saturday afternoon.
His car, towing a trailer laden with wood, was one of the last overtaken by the car doing about 180km/h just moments before the crash.
"It gave me a fright. I thought he was
going to crash, then he did. It was the most freaky thing I have seen in my life."
Mr Wilson thought of his own two children as he tried to help the C
oopers and Mr Pringle.
Barbara Augustina, who lives across the road from the accident site, just past the netball courts where hundreds of people were playing sport, said the scene was horrific and the feeling in Tokoroa was one of complete unfairness.
"The person who caused the accident has survived, and as usual it's the innocent one that gets it."
Ms Augustina said speed was often a problem on the main road leading into Tokoroa.
"It was an accident waiting to happen. It says 60km/h but that's not what everybody does - some people are flying along there."
The Herald understands that Mr Rangi has a history of mental illness and has been transferred to a mental health unit for psychiatric assessment.
His family, from Atiamuri, hung up when the Herald phoned yesterday.
Mrs Cooper said she felt deep sadness about the circumsta
nces of the crash.
"If it wasn't our family, it would have been another family." <
br>
Liam's maternal grandmother, Pat Ellis, said she was very bitter.
"Why the hell didn't he [Mr Rangi] pick a bank or a tree?"