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Just hours after walking from court free following a drink-driving conviction, a Canterbury man went drinking again, then got behind the wheel drunk and killed himself and an elderly motorist in a head-on crash.

Associate Coroner Stephen Burdes has found the crash was directly caused by the actions of Zejayohn Keyli West Hurinui, 24, whose blood alcohol was more than four times the legal limit.

On the morning of April 26, 2023, Hurinu, from Cheviot, had appeared in the Christchurch District Court, where he was convicted of driving with excess breath alcohol and disqualified from driving for 28 days, pending the installation of an alcohol interlock device.

His breath-alcohol reading for that earlier offence was 949 milligrams per litre of breath – more than twice the legal limit.

But instead of heeding the ban, Hurinui spent the afternoon drinking with his mother and uncle.

His mother told police she had travelled from out of town to support her son at court.

After the hearing, the trio stopped at pubs in Kaiapoi and Amberley, where they “had three crate bottles each” and “a few more drinks” before parting ways around 5.30pm.

Around 9.15pm, 69-year-old Methven man Anthony Thomas Wood was driving south on State Highway 1, near Domett, with his wife beside him, when a northbound Mazda GSX, driven by Hurinui, veered across the centre line and slammed into their Subaru Outback.

Hurinui was killed instantly, while Wood died of blunt-force head and torso injuries shortly after arriving at Christchurch Hospital.

His wife suffered serious injuries but survived.

Both vehicles were destroyed in the collision.

Coroner Burdes found that Hurinui was more than four times over the legal alcohol limit when he crossed into the Woods’ lane.

Toxicology tests found 221 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, compared with the legal limit of 50mg.

Around 9.15pm, as he approached a gentle left-hand bend near Domett, Hurinui’s Mazda crossed into the southbound lane, directly into the path of the Woods’ car.

Police crash investigator Sergeant Nigel Price found impact marks confirming the crash occurred entirely in the Woods’ lane.

Neither vehicle braked before the impact.

Price said it was “highly likely” Hurinui’s intoxication slowed his reaction time, causing him to drift wide through the curve.

He also found Hurinui had not been wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash.

The crash occurred in a temporary 50km/h roadworks zone, but both cars were likely travelling at open-road speeds, with Hurinui’s car moving faster than the Subaru.

Mechanical inspections found no defects in either vehicle.

Wood was described by his wife as a careful driver who often travelled below the speed limit.

Hurinui, meanwhile, had been driving illegally on a restricted licence that had been revoked just hours earlier.

In separate findings into the deaths of both men, Coroner Burdes said Hurinui “should not have been behind the wheel of a car” and labelled his behaviour “appalling”.

“Within hours of being convicted and disqualified for drink driving with a very high reading, the Mazda driver was back behind the wheel of his car in breach of the court order and with a blood-alcohol level of more than four times the legal limit,” the coroner wrote.

“His actions caused the crash and caused Mr Wood’s death and Mrs Wood’s injuries.”

The coroner declined to make new recommendations, noting that the dangers of drink-driving were already well publicised, but directed that copies of the findings be released to the media as a warning.

In his concluding remarks, Coroner Burdes extended condolences to both families, but said Wood “had done nothing wrong and was killed through the appalling actions of another”.

“I find that the motor vehicle collision was caused by Mr Hurinui’s failure to stay within his lane. I find that Mr Hurinui failed to stay within his lane due to his gross intoxication.

“Mr Hurinui’s decision to drink and drive after being disqualified that same day underscores the catastrophic risk posed by recidivist drink drivers,” he said.

“This was a wholly preventable tragedy.”

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.