A 19-year-old driver who killed his friend in a horrific road accident did a ‘road cone beer bong’ before smashing his car into a tree.
Scott David Millar, an apprentice builder, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and reckless driving causing injuries on Tuesday morning at the Dunedin High Court, in the South Island of New Zealand.
His front seat passenger, Ravineel Avikash Sharma, died in the accident on August 10, 2017, near Alexandra, Stuff.co.nz reported.
Scott David Millar (pictured) killed his friend in an accident and drank alcohol before the smash
His front seat passenger, Ravineel Sharma (pictured) died in the accident in August 2017
After attending a party and drinking, Millar was to drop Sharma at his house but the pair never arrived after Millar drove recklessly and crashed into a tree
Appearing in front of Justice Gerald Nation, the court heard Millar and Sharma drove to meet with friends at a commercial garage after work for some drinks.
At the party Millar drank alcohol and later in the evening did a ‘road cone (beer) bong’.
Reading from the police summary of facts, the Crown Prosecutor said an orange plastic road cone was used as a funnel, which ‘forces the drinker to consume a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time’.
While at the gathering Millar did at least one of the bongs, and became friends with a new arrival in the town, Hayden Crawley.
Millar, who was described by other party-goers as ‘intoxicated’ and ‘too drunk to drive’ offered to drop Crawley home, before all three men got into his vehicle.
Once en route, Crawley told Millar he was going ‘the long way home’ who then accelerated over the speed limit throughout the journey home.
After turning onto Dunstan Road, Millar slid through a T-intersection and hit a gutter, travelling between 80 – 120 kilometres an hour in a 50kmh zone, according to a witness.
Despite possibly damaging his vehicle, Millar continued to drive erratically, reaching speeds of more than 110kmh, while both passengers begged him to slow down.
Near the Alexandra Airport terminal, the driver performed doughnuts and the vehicle spun out through a muddy area off Coates Road.
After hitting a tree, the top of the car caved in to the height of the door sills, killing Sharma (pictured) who died from severe head and neck injuries from the collapsed roof
After turning onto Dunstan Road (pictured0 Millar slid through a T-intersection and hit a gutter, travelling between 80 – 120 kilometres an hour in a 50kmh zone, but continued to drive
While continuing to speed, Millar then pulled up the handbrake, attempting to ‘drift’ but instead the car was pushed off the side of the road and plummeted down a steep bank.
Upon hitting a tree, the top of the car caved in to the height of the door sills, killing Sharma who died from severe head and neck injuries from the collapsed roof.
Crawley was able to escape the wreck, and headed to a nearby property to raise alarm just before midnight.
Millar was flown to Dunedin Hospital and placed in an induced coma.
When his blood was taken at 4:15am, Millar was found with 142 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, nearly twice the legal limit of 80mg.
His license however only allowed him to drive with a zero limit.
The court heard Millar had no recollection of the crash and remembered drinking only a ‘few beers’ that evening.
Millar was remanded in custody for sentencing on April 9.
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