On the morning of the crash, Thomas was freed from Waikeria Prison having sereved a jail term for burglary, one of 58 convictions he'd amassed over the years.

On his way to catch up with his friend, Daley, he picked up a box of pre-mixed bourbon and began drinking with his other friends and flatmates, Whitehead, Hohepa, and Hohepa's sister, Tui.

Daley arrived home from work to find the group drinking. Daley then asked to borrow his vehicle to get more alcohol and when questioned about whether he had his licence back.

Thomas said he had.

After arriving back, Thomas said he wanted to go and buy some cannabis. Hohepa, Whitehead and Daley joined him in the trip to Cambridge.

Thomas was first spotted speeding by an off duty cop on Marychurch Rd and was seen going up to 100kmh around a 55kmh advisory corner before speeding off up to 130kmh.

A patrol car soon came across the vehicle in the Cambridge suburb of Leamington and activated its flashing lights. His passengers, including Daley and Lennane-Hohepa, repeteadly asked Thomas to stop.

Ignoring their pleas, Thomas put his foot down and drove straight through two give way signs before losing control and the car becoming airborne.

Unlike his passengers, Thomas escaped relatively unscathed after the crash. When questioned by the officer he said he fled because he didn't have a licence.

Shortly afterwards, a member of the public saw Thomas leaving the scene. He was arrested a short time later.

When breath tested by police, Thomas blew 501mcgs. The legal limit is 250mcg.

Justice Moore said most of those convictions were driving-related including reckless driving, dangerous driving, driving while disqualified, failing to render assistance and drink driving.

He said Thomas been a "persistent threat" to the community through his driving for years.

While he didn't doubt that Thomas grieved for his friends he accepted crown prosecutor Ross Douch's submission that he lacked any true remorse for what happened and said the community needed to be protected from him.

He said it was clear that the three courses he completed in prison - drug and alcohol counselling, Smart Choices and the Power of Positive Change - had no effect on him given he was freed only to go on and get behind the wheel drunk again.

Justice Moore found the only mitigating feature in Thomas' case was his early guilty plea.

A pre sentence report found Thomas only attended two restorative justice hearings so that he could get a discount on his sentence, after making the comment to the report writer.

Thomas was supported in court by his sister, while several members of Hohepa-Lennane's family were in court to hear him get jailed, including his mother and sisters.