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Man jailed after ramming into Auckland family in prolonged road rage attack
Catrin Owen10:55, Jul 19 2019
LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
Fraser Milne was sentenced to two years and six months for a road rage incident which left five people in hospital.
A man has been jailed after pursuing a Chinese Kiwi family in a prolonged road chase which led to children being thrown from the car.
Fraser Milne was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment at the High Court at Auckland on Friday by Justice Sally Fitzgerald.
He previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and four charges of injuring with reckless disregard to safety.
Crown prosecutor Jasper Rhodes said it was lucky no one died in the crash and it was a racially motivated attack.
READ MORE: Family fear for their lives after man rammed them and left child with fractured skull
Justice Fitzgerald disagreed with the Crown's submission, saying "it would be quite wrong" to describe the incident as a hate crime.
However, Justice Fitzgerald said the racial comments Milne made to police and the family were "abhorrent".
STUFF
Fraser Milne pleaded guilty in the Auckland High Court to a racially motivated road rage incident which left five people injured.
On the afternoon of March 4, 2018, the family of four and a friend were on their way to go blueberry picking in Awhitu Peninsula in south Auckland.
The family was from China, but had lived in New Zealand for 18 years.
The driver of the family car was not familiar with the local roads and was driving below the speed limit, the summary of facts stated.
Milne, from Paeroa, was driving in the opposite direction, over the speed limit.
As the vehicles approached each other on a hill, Milne believed the other car had crossed to his side of the road.
Milne swerved to avoid the other car and drove into a drain and struck a fence, causing minor damage to his vehicle.
"This angered the defendant as he believed the complainants were at fault," the summary of facts stated.
Milne turned his vehicle around and drove after the family, overtook them at speed and did a U-turn in front of their car, forcing them to stop.
He then got out of the car and confronted them, demanding they pay for the damage to his car and saying he belonged to a gang.
The family was worried he was going to kill them, the summary of facts said.
MORE FROM
CATRIN OWEN • AUCKLAND COURT REPORTER
[email protected]
The terrified victims locked themselves in the car after trying to call 111, decided not to go blueberry picking and started driving home.
However, Milne followed them and tried to cut them off again. He got out of his car with his pit bull dog and yelled that his dog was going to eat the complainants.
The victims drove off again and Milne lost sight of them. He went to some shops, where he spoke to a number of people, saying Asians were taking over the country and could not drive properly, the summary of facts said.
He then saw the family driving past him, got into his car and chased the family for seven kilometres, getting up to speeds of 140kmh.
He rammed the complainants' car, which hit a bank at speed and flipped in the air landing on Milne's car before he braked and caused the car to slide on the ground.
Two of the children, then aged 12 and 10, were ejected from the car during the crash. The 10-year-old's skull was fractured.
They had taken off their seatbelts as they were frightened and were worried they would need to get out of the car quickly to run away from Milne.
All five complainants were hospitalised and suffered moderate injuries. The 10-year-old victim was taken to Starship Hospital by helicopter.
The family continued to be extremely scared of Milne and feared he would find them and kill them.
Milne told police he wanted to get the victims deported and thought they were part of the Asian mafia.
When he saw them drive past, "any Asian in general [he] wanted to hurt".
He told police he felt like killing the driver and he just wanted to "grab his neck and strangle him".
Milne told police he intentionally drove into the family and thought, "this is it", and "if they wanna kill me, let them kill me".
STUFF
Justice Sally Fitzgerald issued Fraser Milne with his first strike warning.
He had been driving on the roads of Awhitu since he was 12 and knew there was a steep drop on either side of the road.
Milne knew that if anyone drove off the drop they would "definitely be dead".
STILL IN FEAR
The family had been without their car since the incident and did not have insurance. They no longer went on family outings together, the court heard.
The victims, who all have name suppression had their victim impact statements read by Rhodes on Friday.
Both the husband and wife said they felt guilty about the crash.
The family had lived in New Zealand for 18 years and enjoyed the fresh air and friendly people.
The wife said she continued to be scared everyday and vividly recalled Milne's aggression on the day, something that would stay with her forever.
"The treat for our family was always our day trips, a happy time. We've not been for a family day out since the attack," she said.
Since the attack the husband has been diagnosed with brain tumours and was in palliative care.
"I don't feel secure and safe anymore. You kept chasing us and you still caught us."
The wife feared Milne will return and attack them again, Rhodes said.
"I still feel what happened is my fault because I suggested going blueberry picking that day," she said.
"We were not rich, we just had a basic life in New Zealand, the white clouds, the blue sky, our beautiful children ... all that has gone."
She also worried about her daughter's scars and how her son had changed since the attack.
Both children were nervous when passengers were in the car now, the court heard.
SENTENCING
Rhodes said the incident went beyond road rage as Milne showed vigilantism and racial hatred.
At the sentencing, Milne's lawyer Mark Ryan said Milne accepted he acted stupidly and without thought.
Ryan said Milne was remorseful and undertaking a Man Up programme and the offending was not racially motivated.
Justice Fitzgerald said the offending wasn't pre-meditated as there was nothing in the summary of facts that stated Milne knew the victims were Asian before launching into the attack.
"Whoever had been been driving that car that day would have generated the same rage from you," Justice Fitzgerald said.
Justice Fitzgerald issued Milne with a first strike warning under the three strikes regime.
Milne had offered to pay $10,000 in reparation to the family and Justice Fitzgerald said he was genuinely remorseful.
Justice Fitzgerald also disqualified Milne from driving for one year, to start after he was released from custody.
An earlier version of this story referred to the incident as a 'racist' road rage attack. This was an allegation made by the Crown, which was rejected by Justice Sally Fitzgerald.
Catrin Owen10:55, Jul 19 2019
LAWRENCE SMITH/STUFF
Fraser Milne was sentenced to two years and six months for a road rage incident which left five people in hospital.
A man has been jailed after pursuing a Chinese Kiwi family in a prolonged road chase which led to children being thrown from the car.
Fraser Milne was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment at the High Court at Auckland on Friday by Justice Sally Fitzgerald.
He previously pleaded guilty to dangerous driving, injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and four charges of injuring with reckless disregard to safety.
Crown prosecutor Jasper Rhodes said it was lucky no one died in the crash and it was a racially motivated attack.
READ MORE: Family fear for their lives after man rammed them and left child with fractured skull
Justice Fitzgerald disagreed with the Crown's submission, saying "it would be quite wrong" to describe the incident as a hate crime.
However, Justice Fitzgerald said the racial comments Milne made to police and the family were "abhorrent".
STUFF
Fraser Milne pleaded guilty in the Auckland High Court to a racially motivated road rage incident which left five people injured.
On the afternoon of March 4, 2018, the family of four and a friend were on their way to go blueberry picking in Awhitu Peninsula in south Auckland.
The family was from China, but had lived in New Zealand for 18 years.
The driver of the family car was not familiar with the local roads and was driving below the speed limit, the summary of facts stated.
Milne, from Paeroa, was driving in the opposite direction, over the speed limit.
As the vehicles approached each other on a hill, Milne believed the other car had crossed to his side of the road.
Milne swerved to avoid the other car and drove into a drain and struck a fence, causing minor damage to his vehicle.
"This angered the defendant as he believed the complainants were at fault," the summary of facts stated.
Milne turned his vehicle around and drove after the family, overtook them at speed and did a U-turn in front of their car, forcing them to stop.
He then got out of the car and confronted them, demanding they pay for the damage to his car and saying he belonged to a gang.
The family was worried he was going to kill them, the summary of facts said.
MORE FROM
CATRIN OWEN • AUCKLAND COURT REPORTER
[email protected]
The terrified victims locked themselves in the car after trying to call 111, decided not to go blueberry picking and started driving home.
However, Milne followed them and tried to cut them off again. He got out of his car with his pit bull dog and yelled that his dog was going to eat the complainants.
The victims drove off again and Milne lost sight of them. He went to some shops, where he spoke to a number of people, saying Asians were taking over the country and could not drive properly, the summary of facts said.
He then saw the family driving past him, got into his car and chased the family for seven kilometres, getting up to speeds of 140kmh.
He rammed the complainants' car, which hit a bank at speed and flipped in the air landing on Milne's car before he braked and caused the car to slide on the ground.
Two of the children, then aged 12 and 10, were ejected from the car during the crash. The 10-year-old's skull was fractured.
They had taken off their seatbelts as they were frightened and were worried they would need to get out of the car quickly to run away from Milne.
All five complainants were hospitalised and suffered moderate injuries. The 10-year-old victim was taken to Starship Hospital by helicopter.
The family continued to be extremely scared of Milne and feared he would find them and kill them.
Milne told police he wanted to get the victims deported and thought they were part of the Asian mafia.
When he saw them drive past, "any Asian in general [he] wanted to hurt".
He told police he felt like killing the driver and he just wanted to "grab his neck and strangle him".
Milne told police he intentionally drove into the family and thought, "this is it", and "if they wanna kill me, let them kill me".
STUFF
Justice Sally Fitzgerald issued Fraser Milne with his first strike warning.
He had been driving on the roads of Awhitu since he was 12 and knew there was a steep drop on either side of the road.
Milne knew that if anyone drove off the drop they would "definitely be dead".
STILL IN FEAR
The family had been without their car since the incident and did not have insurance. They no longer went on family outings together, the court heard.
The victims, who all have name suppression had their victim impact statements read by Rhodes on Friday.
Both the husband and wife said they felt guilty about the crash.
The family had lived in New Zealand for 18 years and enjoyed the fresh air and friendly people.
The wife said she continued to be scared everyday and vividly recalled Milne's aggression on the day, something that would stay with her forever.
"The treat for our family was always our day trips, a happy time. We've not been for a family day out since the attack," she said.
Since the attack the husband has been diagnosed with brain tumours and was in palliative care.
"I don't feel secure and safe anymore. You kept chasing us and you still caught us."
The wife feared Milne will return and attack them again, Rhodes said.
"I still feel what happened is my fault because I suggested going blueberry picking that day," she said.
"We were not rich, we just had a basic life in New Zealand, the white clouds, the blue sky, our beautiful children ... all that has gone."
She also worried about her daughter's scars and how her son had changed since the attack.
Both children were nervous when passengers were in the car now, the court heard.
SENTENCING
Rhodes said the incident went beyond road rage as Milne showed vigilantism and racial hatred.
At the sentencing, Milne's lawyer Mark Ryan said Milne accepted he acted stupidly and without thought.
Ryan said Milne was remorseful and undertaking a Man Up programme and the offending was not racially motivated.
Justice Fitzgerald said the offending wasn't pre-meditated as there was nothing in the summary of facts that stated Milne knew the victims were Asian before launching into the attack.
"Whoever had been been driving that car that day would have generated the same rage from you," Justice Fitzgerald said.
Justice Fitzgerald issued Milne with a first strike warning under the three strikes regime.
Milne had offered to pay $10,000 in reparation to the family and Justice Fitzgerald said he was genuinely remorseful.
Justice Fitzgerald also disqualified Milne from driving for one year, to start after he was released from custody.
An earlier version of this story referred to the incident as a 'racist' road rage attack. This was an allegation made by the Crown, which was rejected by Justice Sally Fitzgerald.
