The Star: December 14, 2023

The Star Thursday December 14 2023
4
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Speak up against drink driving, say
• By Samantha Gee
THE FAMILY of a man killed
while cycling to Christchurch
for his first grandchild’s baby
shower hopes his death serves
as a reminder of the dangers of
drink driving.
Andrew Milne was hit on State
Highway 1 north of Blenheim in
April by a car driven by Samuel
Richard Paterson, 29, who was
more than five times over the
legal limit.
Paterson was sentenced to 11
months home detention and
200 hours of community work,
ordered to pay Milne’s family
$18,000 in reparation and disqualified
from driving for three
years.
He was working as a night shift
press supervisor at a winery on
April 19, and had taken part in a
wine tasting about 2am, before
finishing his shift and driving
home towards Blenheim, shortly
before 7am.
At the same time, Milne was
cycling along State Highway 1
bound for Christchurch, having
arrived in Picton on the
Bluebridge Ferry not long after
5.30am. He was wearing a yellow
high-vis jacket and had lights on
the front and back of his helmet,
along with the front and back of
his bike.
Paterson’s vehicle crossed the
FAMILY: Andrew Milne with his twin daughters Alice and Sorrel O’Connell-Milne. Milne
was hit by drunk driver Richard Paterson while cycling to Alice’s baby shower, and died at
the scene.
PHOTO: RNZ
centre line several times on his
journey home, forcing oncoming
traffic to take evasive action to
avoid a collision. After exiting a
sweeping left-hand bend in the
highway, he failed to straighten
up and hit Milne’s bicycle from
behind.
Milne was thrown 40m from
where he was hit and died at the
scene as a result of injuries to his
head and spine.
His daughter, Alice O’Connell-
Milne, said she regretted inviting
her dad to her son’s baby shower,
wondering if had he not set out
on that journey, he might still be
alive.
She gave birth to Dahli weeks
after the crash and said overwhelming
grief had intruded on
the joy of motherhood.
“From my first moments of
having my son in my arms, my
grief distracted from the joy of
my new baby. I could only sob,
thinking of my dad holding me
as a baby and having loved me
and my siblings so unconditionally
the entirety of our lives.
“To not have his love and company
into the future is so deeply
unfair and inconceivable.”
Instead of celebrating her
baby’s arrival, the family was left
to organise a funeral.
‘It didn’t have to happen,
it was an unnecessary,
completely avoidable
situation’
– Alice O’Connell-Milne
“It didn’t have to happen, it
was an unnecessary, completely
avoidable situation and if (Paterson)
had made different choices,
it wouldn’t have happened,”
O’Connell-Milne said.
Her twin sister, Sorrel
O’Connell-Milne, said family was
everything to her father, who was
a talented builder and craftsman
with a love of cycling, sailing,
surfing and adventure.
“Dad has always had an adventurous
spirit and he instilled that
in us. We would go on massive
bike rides together as a family,
sometimes with just a few days
prep beforehand but he always
had safety first and that was evident
on the day (he died), five different
lights, high-vis,” she said.
The family had gone on cycling
trips across New Zealand, but
none of them had been able to
ride again since the crash, she
said.
The loss of her “loving, interested
and attentive” father had
been all-consuming and triggered
panic attacks and anxiety
that made it difficult to work.