The driver of a car involved in a street race that ended in the deaths of four people has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Dylan Cossey, 20, was found guilty on all six charges laid after the 2016 crash. His passenger Stephen John Jones, also 20, was found not guilty of manslaughter after a week-long trial in the High Court at Hamilton, but guilty of failing to stop and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The pair were charged with the manslaughter of Hamilton woman Hannah Leis Strickett-Craze, 24, Paul De Silva, 20, and Lance Robinson, 28, both of Te Awamutu, and Jason McCormick Ross, 19, of Stratford by way of illegal street racing. A van driver was also seriously injured. He has name suppression.
The crash happened on Ohaupo Rd, at the intersection of Ingram Rd, outside Hamilton Airport, on June 24, 2016, when Robinson lost control of his northbound Nissan Skyline and collided with the southbound van.
The jury of five men and seven women began deliberations at 1.35pm yesterday. Family and media were told the jury had reached verdicts just after 11am today.
Cossey smirked when his verdict was read and his father and sister stormed out of the court.
Loud cries came from the victims' families in the public gallery.
James breathed a sigh of relief.
Cossey was also issued a three strikes warning as manslaughter is a qualifying violence offence.
Dylan Cossey faced charges over a crash which killed three men and one woman in Hamilton. (Photo / File)
Both Cossey and Jones were granted bail by Justice Hinton this afternoon.
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