Driver three times legal limit died in ‘avoidable’ crash

Leroy Sell-Henriksen, a 23-year-old shearer from Amberley, was three times over the legal drinking limit, under the influence of drugs, and on his way back from buying cannabis when he was killed in a car crash.

In a recently released coronial finding, Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave said the fatal crash was “avoidable” and demonstrative of the “tragedy and suffering” that can come from drunk driving.

Sell-Henriksen died when his car crashed on Balcairn Amberley Rd in North Canterbury on the evening of March 27, 2021. An autopsy confirmed his death was due to “high-energy impact injuries to head and chest”.

Earlier in the day, Sell-Henriksen had visited the Sheffield A&P show with a friend where he took part in a speed shearing event. His friend, Heidi Radley, dropped him off at home around 7.45pm.

Radley later told investigators she had seen Sell-Henriksen drink approximately three bottles of vodka pre-mix at the A&P show. When she later cleaned out the ute she had been driving Sell-Henriksen around in on the day, she removed about eight empty bottles of vodka pre-mix from the vehicle.

Radley said when she dropped him off, Sell-Henriksen told her he had changed his mind about going out that night and someone was going to come to him at his home. However, he ended up leaving the address later in his father’s car. The car had not been used for weeks because it had a space-saver tyre to the rear right side of the vehicle and its registration had run out and been put on hold.

Eyewitnesses to the crash, Debra and John Florance, were returning to their home in Leithfield at about 8.55pm when Debra saw in her rear view mirror some lights coming up fast behind her on Balcairn Amberley Rd.

In a statement, she said she was going no faster than 90kph and it seemed the car was coming towards them at 130kph to 140kph.

According to the coronial findings, the car began to indicate so Florance pulled to the left.

“The car, still behind her, began fishtailing. It came up near her driver door, then crashed into the right bank at the side of the road before rolling back towards the road. The car landed on four wheels facing the Florances’ car in the centre of the road, before spinning several times, hitting the ditch and stopping partly on the road and partly in the ditch.”

Witnesses found Sell-Henriksen about 10m away from the vehicle in a ditch. Someone started trying to resuscitate him, which the emergency crew took over when they arrived. However, Sell-Henriksen died at the scene.

Toxicology readings showed Sell-Henriksen had a blood alcohol level of 149mg/100ml – the legal limit is 50mg. Methamphetamine and cannabis were also found in his blood. Police found a bag of cannabis in the car.

Officers later located Facebook Messenger messages that appeared to show that after being dropped off at home that night, Sell-Henriksen had travelled to the Rangiora Eco Holiday Park to buy drugs from a third party. A police investigation found Sell-Henriksen did not have a driver’s licence. He had held a learner’s licence, but it had lapsed.

The BMW he was driving was warranted, but not registered. Sell-Henriksen was not wearing his seatbelt and he had been thrown from the car through the rear windscreen.

Coroner Schmidt-McCleave said there had been a number of “avoidable factors” that contributed to Sell-Henriksen’s death, including his likely drug and alcohol impairment, his failure to wear a seatbelt, and the speed at which he was driving, with the risk exacerbated by the fact that a space-saver tyre was being used. “This crash, like so many others involving excessive alcohol consumption and drug use, was avoidable. It demonstrates again the tragedy and suffering that can occur when drivers consume alcohol, combined with recreational drug use, and proceed to drive,” the coroner said.

“As many coroners have stated on many occasions, do not drink and drive.”