Drug/alcohol driver jailed over Tre Anderson death

29 year old Hayden Richard Hurst of Mount Pisa near Cromwell has been jailed for 3 years and 11 months after the death of Royalburn butcher Tre Anderson.

Mr Hurst was also sentenced in the Invercargill High Court to 4 years disqualification from driving (from release date) and emotional harm reparation to the victim’s family of $10,000.

He was charged with manslaughter.

Mr Hurst was found to have 131 milligrams of alcohol in his system per 100 millilitres of blood, more than double the legal limit for people over 20 years of 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres. He also was tested as having more than double the high risk level of the drug MDMA in his blood.

The accident happened just before 8.00 am on December 16, 2023.

Fifteen minutes before the crash, locals had posted on social media of Hurst driving erratically and crossing the centre line on SH6 between Frankton and Arrow Junction. 

The court heard that Hurst had been drinking since 4.00 pm the day earlier before attending his employer's Xmas party.

Mr Anderson’s friends, family and colleagues read victim impact statements to the court.