In the early hours of February 16 this year, a van carrying nine friends came off the road just outside of Winton and rolled six times before coming to a deadly halt in a nearby paddock.

Rear seat passenger, Thalia Jayden Newport (20) died at the scene. All other passengers received moderate to severe injuries.

The group had been travelling home to Invercargill from Queenstown when the tragedy happened.

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Today (October 22), the owner of the van, 21-year-old Joshua William Leitch of Invercargill has pleaded guilty in the Invercargill District Court to endangering life, health, and safety by criminal nuisance.

According to the police summary of facts, the van – a 2006 Toyota Hi Ace – had been fitted with two non-compliant rear bench seats and did not have any seat belts for the rear passengers.

Leitch took the van to get a Warrant of Fitness (WOF) in November last year however, at the time the uncertified seats were not in the van, so seatbelts were not lawfully required.

The van passed the WOF and Leitch would later acknowledge having removed and reinstalled the seats on more than one occasion, including when he took it to get a WOF in November 2019.

The summary of facts states he also thought it was “okay that it didn’t have seatbelts.”

Leitch and seven other passengers were all sitting in the back of the van on the two bench seats in the early hours of that February morning.

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Both seats had been fixed with two roofing screws that had been drilled through the plywood floor and into the metal floor of the van.

Around 4.30 am, the van driven by Aaron Collinson (21) went to make a left turn shortly after leaving Winton but crossed the fog line and drove into a water table ditch. 

It then rolled approximately 45m across the paddock.

Collinson pleaded guilty to seven charges of careless or inconsiderate driving causing injury and one charge of careless or inconsiderate driving causing death in the Invercargill District Court on September 17.

Without seat belts to restrain them – the seven passengers in the back were flung from the van at different points as it rolled across the field. 

One of the uncertified seats also became dislodged, pulling two roof screws with it from the floor.

Leitch and two other passengers were transferred to Dunedin hospital due to the seriousness of their injuries and 20-year-old Miss Newport died at the scene after becoming trapped under the van.

Although the defendant was not driving the van at the time of the crash, as the owner he is still deemed to be operating the vehicle.

Following the crash, the van was inspected by a VTNZ inspector where it was noted that the van had been modified with the two rear seats.

When spoken to following the crash, the defendant acknowledged being the owner of the van but said when he purchased the van it already had the rear seats in it. He denied making any modifications.

Judge Russell Walker remanded Leitch to be sentenced once he has completed the Right Track driver education course. He also recommended that he complete 150 hours of community work.

It is still unclear what caused the van to crash.