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Mother-of-five Terina Pineaha was intoxicated, high and driving at nearly twice the speed limit on the wrong side of the road when she struck and killed a child. 

Pineaha, who committed manslaughter through her “appalling” driving when enraged at the thought that her boyfriend might be having an affair, has now been sentenced to prison. 

Her victim, Emma-Jane Sylvia Kupa, will “forever be 11″, according to her grieving mother. 

Today, Pineaha, 35, appeared in the High Court at Napier for sentencing after pleading guilty to Emma-Jane’s manslaughter and related charges. 

“You’ll never understand the pain you have caused within our family,” her mother, Shannon Davis, told the court through sobs as she read a victim impact statement. 

“It feels like we are living in a horror movie which is on repeat.” 

Justice Dale La Hood said that had she lived, Emma-Jane would have turned 12 last week. 

Instead, she died while riding her bike to a dairy on Chatham Rd in Flaxmere on January 30 this year. 

The judge acknowledged the grief of the family and the trauma caused to Emma-Jane’s 15-year-old sister, who witnessed her death. 

More than 20 members of Emma-Jane’s family were in the public gallery for the court appearance, many of whom were visibly upset. 

Pineha also spent much of the hearing in tears, hiding her face in her hands. 

Terina Pineaha appeared in the High Court at Napier to be sentenced to prison for the manslaughter of Emma-Jane Kupa. Photo / RNZ 

In sentencing Pineaha to four years and five months in prison, the judge said that no sentence would make up for the loss of Emma-Jane, who had been described to him as a beautiful, spiritual, amazing and headstrong child. 

He said that Pineaha committed several other offences on the drive leading to Emma-Jane’s death, including failing to stop after rear-ending a van and almost colliding with another vehicle. 

She was travelling at a speed of between 88kmh and 100kmh in a residential area, on the wrong side of the road, before she hit Emma-Jane, who was riding a bicycle. 

A Crown summary of facts said Pineaha was drunk, high on methamphetamine and on her way to confront a woman she thought was sleeping with her partner when she hit Emma-Jane. 

Emma-Jane was cycling behind her 15-year-old sister, who was on a scooter, on their way to the dairy in Scott Drive. 

The impact threw Emma-Jane into the air. She landed 25 metres away on a grass verge, beside Ron Giorgi Park. 

Pineaha’s borrowed Holden Vectra slid on the wet road over the footpath and grass verge, striking 10 wooden posts on a chain fence before coming to a stop. 

A pedestrian approaching the crossing just before the crash felt the wind from Pineaha’s car as it passed him. 

Members of the public rushed to Emma-Jane’s aid, performing CPR until emergency services arrived. She could not be revived and died at the scene from head injuries. 

Pineaha told police she was enraged and screaming to herself as she accelerated down the road. 

“By the time I saw the bike, I was going too fast and didn’t have time to brake,” she said. 

A summary of facts said that she had drunk several cans of pre-mixed alcoholic drinks and took five or six puffs of meth from a pipe on the morning of the crash. 

Emma-Jane Kupa died in a crash in Flaxmere while cycling on Chatham Rd in January. 

She had also been involved in a fight at her partner’s house, where she deliberately drove into the back of a vehicle. 

Before she hit Emma-Jane, she drove into the back of a white Nissan van as it waited to enter a roundabout. 

The van’s driver pulled over, expecting Pineaha to stop. Instead, she kept going, narrowly missing another vehicle and driving around the traffic island into the wrong lane to head south down Chatham Rd. She again took off at speed. 

On Chatham Rd, she fatally struck Emma-Jane. 

Pineaha was breath-tested by police later and blew 595mcg of alcohol per litre of breath, above the legal limit of 400mcg. 

She admitted charges of manslaughter, consuming methamphetamine, wilful damage, driving with excess breath alcohol, dangerous driving and failing to stop. 

The court heard that at the time of the incident, Pineaha was serving a one-year sentence of supervision for possessing methamphetamine and other charges. She was also convicted of possessing methamphetamine in 2018. 

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined ��һ�ǿ�����’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.