A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison after her actions during a road rage incident led to the death of an innocent man, Jonathan “Jono” Baker, on June 27 last year, The New Zealand Herald reported. The crash occurred when she followed her partner's wife at high speed, ultimately driving on the wrong side of the road and colliding with Baker's vehicle.
The woman, Sharanjit Kaur, had trailed her partner’s wife after becoming enraged over a recent family photo. She overtook and cut off the wife in her Toyota, stopping mid-road and striking the driver's window, before accelerating in pursuit. Travelling between 125–136 km/h, Kaur failed to brake in time as she crested a hill, leading to the fatal collision. Baker, 49, a respected staff member at the Department of Correction and a probation team leader, suffered a ruptured aorta and died instantly. Kaur sustained minor injuries.
In court, Baker’s mother-in-law described how the pursuit over a simple family photograph resembled the plot of a poorly written novel. Crown counsel argued that Kaur had engaged in a dangerous course of driving—overtaking, brake-checking, and excessive speeding—triggered by rage at seeing the photo. With a history of similar speeding offences, she was deemed culpable for the catastrophe.
Kaur’s lawyer acknowledged her client’s severe psychological distress, stating that the photo triggered a breakdown after an eight-year, emotionally tumultuous relationship, during which she had received repeated assurances her partner would divorce his wife. A psychiatrist confirmed Kaur was suffering from a chronic mental-health decline and had reached a psychological breaking point.
Despite the defence’s plea for home detention, Judge Tompkins determined that a custodial sentence was necessary. Taking a five-year starting point and applying a 20 percent reduction for her guilty plea, he sentenced Kaur to four years in prison and disqualified her from driving for five years.
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