The Star: April 06, 2023

The Star Thursday April 6 2023
12
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Mother’s heartbreak: ‘Did his
life mean nothing to you?’
• By Emily Moorhouse
A WOMAN who was on
methamphetamine when she
caused a crash that killed her
fiancé has continued to re-offend
following her sentence of home
detention.
Now the dead man’s mother
has asked her former daughterin-law
if her son’s life meant
nothing to her.
Shizelle Harland was behind
the wheel with meth in her
system when she drifted on to
the wrong side of the road. She
collided head-on with a van,
killing her fiancé Joshua Ryder.
On Friday, Harland appeared
in the district court, where she
was re-sentenced for the fatal
2021 collision. She was also
sentenced on new charges.
In an emotional victim impact
statement, Ryder’s mother
told the court losing a child
is the worst pain she has ever
experienced.
“I still experience the pain of
losing Josh every single day
. . . how do you get over losing a
child?”
She expressed disappointment
and concern that Harland
continued to breach home
detention, the sentence she
received for the crash that killed
Ryder.
“Did his life mean nothing to
you?” Ryder’s mother thought
about her son every day and said
the realisation he was dead hit
her like a “punch in the tummy.”
She said home detention was a
“small price to pay for a life.”
On July 7, 2021, Ryder was
driving home from hospital after
visiting a friend in Christchurch.
Harland and another passenger
were in the car.
Harland asked Ryder to pull
over so she could drive because
he was tired and swerving over
the road.
She overtook a car at excessive
speed, south of Dunsandel.
Shortly afterwards, she drifted
onto the wrong side of the road
and collided head-on with a van.
Both Ryder and the other
passenger weren’t wearing seat
belts.
Ryder died at the scene, while
the other passenger, who suffered
broken ribs, a broken wrist, a
cracked pelvis, an air bubble in
his lung and extensive bruising
to his lower body, was taken to
Christchurch Hospital.
Harland was also taken to the
hospital and subsequent tests
showed she had meth in her
system. She was also diagnosed
with a moderate brain injury.
She was charged with
aggravated careless driving
causing death and injury
and was sentenced to home
detention. But it wasn’t long
before she breached it.
The summary of facts stated
in May last year, Harland stole a
caravan from a property.
In August, she stole an axe and
kindling from a shed at a private
dwelling, and then in November
police searched her home and
found an air rifle, 61.29 grams
of cannabis, a used meth pipe, a
modified bong and a cannabis
PRISON TIME: Shizelle Harland was the driver involved in
a collision that killed her fiancé Joshua Ryder.
grinder. Police also found 0.41g
of cocaine and a stolen electric
bike valued at $4399.
The Crown said imprisonment
was the only appropriate
outcome, given Harland had
continued to breach her previous
sentence of home detention to
re-offend.
Harland’s lawyer Matthew
Bonniface said time spent in
custody was a much-needed
“reality check” for his client,
who was genuinely
remorseful for her
actions.
“The person I speak
to over the phone now
in prison is entirely
different to the one
I met a few months
ago.”
He said the
address at which
Harland was serving
her home detention
sentence had set her
up for failure, leading to her reoffending
as she “fell victim” to
Matthew
Bonniface
pre-exposed struggles with drug
addiction.
Bonniface said following the
death of Ryder, Harland did
well for a while but then gave
up on herself. He said she now
understood compliance with
her sentence was a necessity and
she was willing to participate in
rehabilitation.
Judge Brian Callaghan said
while Harland seemed to be on
a road to recovery, imposing
another sentence of home
detention would not be
responsible.
“I accept that custody
hasn’t been an easy
task for you, but it’s not
supposed to be,” he told
her.
He sentenced Harland
to 14 months in prison
for the new charges
and seven months for
the driving charges
resulting in Ryder’s death.
Callaghan imposed an end
sentence of 21 months in prison.
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