Waikato man struggles to hold back tears as he is sentenced for the death of a child in the driveway

A Waikato man who accidentally ran over a child “multiple” times in his driveway says he didn’t realize he had hit something until he noticed the last “hit.”

Michael Angus Murray wiped tears from his eyes in the dock in Hamilton District Court today when he was sentenced on a reckless driving charge that caused the death of 1-year-old Lilah Brooks.

An abridged version of what happened that day was read to the court after Murray’s attorney, Marie McLeod, successfully argued to suppress the five-page summary detailing what happened, but also how many times she was run over.

Judge Johnathan Down granted the request, as well as a request to suppress the amount of compensation paid to the family, which he described as “substantial.”

Lilah died after being hit “numerous” times by Murray’s vehicle when she completed a three-point turn out of the driveway they shared with her parents around 2:45 p.m. on December 8 last year.

Despite Lilah being beaten multiple times, McLeod claimed her client’s guilt was low, yet that was one of the issues the judge told her she was “struggling with.”

McLeod explained that as soon as they felt something, Lilah’s grandmother Joy Brooks got out of the car and Lilah immediately received first aid.

She said that the driveway itself was made of sand, was not level and had a lot of potholes and that there were often toys or even pieces of wood around it.

“They just didn’t feel anything until the last hit, as soon as they felt something, they stopped.

“It’s just a tragedy because it is accepted that when Lilah was first shot down, there was a really narrow gap in time where, if Mr. Murray had been looking at himself in that particular mirror, he might as well have seen her.”

“Ten seconds have passed since she was apparently in the line of sight of her right mirror.

“It’s the worst that could happen and they’ve lost someone they love.”

The judge called the case “tragic” in which there were no winners and told those present that regardless of the sentence they would bring her back.

Brooks was in the passenger seat and the couple discussed whether there were children around the car before starting the three-point turn.

However, video footage of the incident showed a 10-second period in which Lilah was visible in one of the side mirrors but was not seen.

Lilah came around the back of the car as Murray began to back up. The judge said Lilah appeared to react and tried to walk to the side of the car, but was hit by the rear of the car.

“You reversed the vehicle and hit her and she got under the car and enough to say that there were a number of maneuvers to complete the three-point turn, each of which continued to injure Lilah.”

“I have no difficulty accepting that you and Joy didn’t feel anything until the last maneuver when you started off the main road and that you stopped immediately after feeling that hit.”

The judge said “at first glance” it might be hard to imagine how they didn’t notice they hit Lilah for the first time.

However, he accepted that they were in a large car and in a farm yard with uneven surfaces.

“I suppose it is entirely feasible that any potholes you have felt could have been attributed to potholes or potholes in the road or small pieces of equipment or material left in the farm yard.”

He said he believed in their submission mainly because of how close the family was, even though Murray was not a biological grandfather, he had been close to the grandchildren.

McLeod noted his client’s driving record and submitted that he received a 12-month disqualification, but suggested that the community detention was not justified under the circumstances.

However, the judge disagreed.

He found there was a “moderate” level of carelessness given that there were “numerous maneuvers” and given the tendency of children to walk on the property.

Judge Down noted that both Murray and Brooks now have to live with what happened for the rest of their lives.

With that in mind, he also gave Murray “significant” discounts for his early guilty plea and remorse, as well as a “very significant” reparation to the family “that will help secure the future of the family.”

However, it was still serious enough to justify sentences of both community detention and community service.

Murray was sentenced to community detention for three months, 100 hours of community service, and disqualified from driving for 15 months.