Ella-Rose Donker — a former Whangarei Girls’ High School student — and Joshua Oliver Dobson — a shearer and father to a toddler — were fatally injured in the crash about 11pm on June 10 last year.
Mathewson was driving at an excessive speed on a 60km/h stretch of the Coatesville-Riverhead Highway nearing Short Rd when he lost control at an S-bend.
The car went into a ditch, Mathewson continued for a short distance before returning to the road. He over-corrected, which caused the vehicle to spin and slide sideways at speed along the road. It crossed into the opposite lane before the passenger side of it slammed into a concrete power pole at the intersection of Short Rd.
Donker, who was in the front passenger seat, died at the scene from blunt force trauma injuries. Dobson died from head injuries two days later in hospital.
The car wrapped around a pole, causing a power outage. The damage was so bad it took emergency services nearly three hours to extract the occupants.
Mathewson was taken to hospital and tested for drugs, returning a high reading for MDMA (ecstasy) — a synthetic stimulant and hallucinogen. His result: 260 nanograms of MDMA per millilitre of blood. The high-risk level for driving is 50 nanograms/ml of blood.
In victim statements for the court, Ella and Joshua’s families spoke of their unbearable pain and grief. They were struggling to cope and felt robbed of their young loved ones.
Ella-Rose’s parents, Robert and Kim Donker: “It doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to get any easier. We’re living our own sentence.” Photo / Michael Cunningham
Sentencing notes recorded a “highly emotional” restorative justice conference was held in April between the previously close families.
Mathewson’s parents spoke about the impact on him and how he struggled daily. He had found it difficult to attend the conference, but wanted to apologise face to face.
Ella’s parents said they could never forgive him. Joshua’s mother told Mathewson he’d been given a second chance and needed to make the most of it, “to honour and respect Ella and Joshua”.
After the crash, Mathewson handed himself over to police. He’d admitted being the driver and having “stupidly” consumed MDMA at the party. He couldn’t remember much, but recalled the car going sideways. He denied being aware that his licence was suspended (due to previous demerit points).
Pre-sentence reports spoke of Mathewson having no previous criminal history and being a valued road maintenance worker for Fulton Hogan. He didn’t show pro-criminal or entitled beliefs and there was no pattern of antagonistic attitude towards others.
He had taken MDMA in the past, but had not consumed it or alcohol since the crash. He’d grown up around a normalised culture of driving after consuming alcohol and drugs.
MDMA is a synthetic stimulant and hallucinogen also known as ecstasy.
Now dealing with crippling depression and guilt, Mathewson had lost 35kg and couldn’t get what happened out of his mind. He wanted to find the strength to share his story with youth to discourage them from making the same mistake he had.
He regretted not having previously taken up a scholarship to play for a state rugby team in Australia that could have changed the trajectory of his life.
Judge Pecotic adopted the four-year sentence starting point submitted by the Crown and not challenged by the defence.
Discounts were for guilty pleas (20 per cent); rehabilitative programmes done (10 per cent); and remorse, previous good character, young age, and present mental health issues (each 5 per cent).
The reductions halved the sentence to 24 months — the outer limit for conversion to home detention, which the judge said was appropriate as the least restrictive sentence. Mathewson’s rehabilitative needs would also be more likely to be addressed in the community, where he had family support.
The judge noted Mathewson would no doubt punish himself for the rest of his life.
Ella’s father, Robert Donker, said the sentence didn’t seem like any real consequence for someone who’d killed two people.
He knew why the courts tried not to jail young people — because of the risk it could turn them into criminals — however, there needed to be a stronger penalty than 12 months’ home detention to adequately deter teen drivers from taking the risks in which they were killing their friends.
Fatal incidents involving young, impaired drivers had become a regular thing and were on the rise, Donker said.
He didn’t know what the answer was, but sentencing had to be reviewed. He noted the maximum penalty for Mathewson’s offences was up to 10 years’ imprisonment, yet the starting point imposed was only four years.
“What do you [offenders] have to do to get a higher starting point — kill a busload of people twice?”
It seemed “the whole system is for offenders and concentrated on them and ‘cos the victims aren’t here anymore, they don’t seem to matter”.
Donker said due to his ongoing grief, he still wasn’t fully back at work. And his wife struggled every day too.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to get any easier. We’re living our own sentence.”