Canterbury driver James Solvander jailed for killing father Clint Hoeben on bicycle with daughter

A drugged driver who killed a father on a bicycle with his daughter during the national coronavirus lockdown has been jailed today for more than five years.

James Harrison Solvander, 33, collided with Clint Hoeben, 48, and his 14-year-old daughter while biking near Fernside in North Canterbury on April 2.

Hoeben died and his daughter suffered minor injuries.

Solvander pleaded guilty in Christchurch District Court to driving drugs causing death and driving drugs causing injury.

Today, a judge told Solvander that it was “an accident and a tragedy waiting to happen.”

Charmaine Hoeben, a devastated wife of 24 years, told Solvander on the dock of the widespread impact her actions have had.

It was a beautiful, clear and sunny afternoon and Hoeben wanted his children, locked up, to exercise outside.

What should have been a special bonding moment between a daughter and a father turned into a “horrible, life-altering nightmare,” she said.

“Clint’s death has left a great void in our lives,” he said.

“You decided to take drugs and get behind the wheel.”

She questioned what was so urgent that Solvander had to break lockdown rules and drive knowing he was not in proper condition.

“We will suffer his life for a long time,” Charmaine Hoeben said.

Crown prosecutor Aaron Harvey said Solvander had a “horrific record” of drunk driving and that “he doesn’t seem to get it.”

Solvander was also convicted today of driving with drugs on October 27 of last year and of reckless driving on March 19. He also admitted to a number of other drug charges.

Solvander said he did not know it was a lockdown, that he did not have a television or did not look at the media, defense attorney Stephen Hembrow said.

“I wish I could turn back time, but you can’t,” the lawyer said.

Judge Gilbert said that Solvander had “devastated the lives of many people.”

He highlighted his “terrible criminal record,” especially his eight convictions related to driving and driving while intoxicated.

And although Solvander now regretted what he had done, Judge Gilbert told him, “It’s too late for that.”

The court heard that Solvander was driving a Toyota Hiace pickup on Oxford Rd when the accident occurred around 12:35 p.m. on April 2.

Hoeben was riding a bicycle behind his daughter when he was hit from behind and thrown about 40 meters.

The girl fell off her bicycle and fell onto the road. She received extensive grazing on her legs and arms, and her father died at the scene from trauma to her head and neck.

When police showed up, Solvander passed a roadside breath test but failed a mandatory impairment test at the Kaiapoi Police Station.

A blood test found methamphetamine and diazepam in his system.

Police found a can containing a handgun and 27 rounds of 22-gauge ammunition in the tall grass next to where Solvander’s truck stopped after the accident. Solvander’s DNA was found on the trigger of the gun.

Solvander told officers that he was going to see a friend about a tattoo.

Solvander was jailed for five years and five months.

Family and friends joined the Hoeben family, including members of a dog community that Hoeben was involved with.

A Givealittle page created to help the Hoebens ended up raising more than $ 42,000 for their children.

Clint Hoeben was said to have a great passion for dogs and was very involved with the community; as President of the Continental Staffordshire Bull Terrier Society and Vice President of Dogs New Zealand.

He was also a member of the New Zealand Canine Judges Association.

“Clint made an incredible contribution to the Stafford community and the dog community around the world,” reads a post on the Givealittle page.

“Clint was an amazing friend, mentor and family man with a great sense of humor and his loss is incalculable to all who knew him; his beautiful wife Charmaine, his children Tara and Cameron, his parents Lorraine and John and many, many friends.”

The message acknowledged that because many of them were unable to be there for them in person due to the Covid-19 lockdown, they created the page to help in that way.

“We have created this page with all the proceeds going to your children, [of] of whom I was very proud. “

The North Canterbury Kennel Association also paid tribute to the man who had brought his family to New Zealand from South Africa more than a decade ago for a better life.

“Clint’s passion was his employees, but there was nothing in his life that surpassed his love for Charmaine and their children Tara and Cam,” read an online post.

They ended up simply describing him as “Clint, a really nice guy.”