A Hamilton man who deleted footage of illegal street racing after a crash killed four people has been sentenced to eight months' home detention.

Stephen John Jones was today sentenced for his part in the horrific crash on Ohaupo Rd on June 24, 2016.

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 died in the crash. A van driver who was seriously injured has name suppression.

Jones was found not guilty of manslaughter by illegal street racing after a trial in the High Court at Hamilton in February, however he was found guilty of failing to stop and ascertain injury and attempting to pervert the course of justice after editing and shortening a film he took of the crash.

Stephen John Jones was today sentenced for his part in crash which killed four people on Ohaupo Rd in 2016. (Photo \ Natalie Akoorie)

Cossey and Robinson's vehicles raced for about 9 minutes as they travelled north of Te Awamutu along State Highway 3 before getting south of Hamilton Airport.

Robinson's vehicle lost control as it passed Cossey's Honda. It fishtailed several times before slamming into an oncoming van.

All four occupants died at the scene, while Cossey and Jones fled the crash immediately afterwards.

As the crash happened, Jones is heard yelling "gap it bro, gap it" to Cossey who then sped from the scene.

An investigation of Jones' phone found a video he had supplied to police had been edited at least twice, the most recent being two hours before he was interviewed by police.

Justice Anne Hinton reminded Jones of the anger the victims' families felt at both he and Cossey fleeing the scene without offering assistance.

A pre sentence report found he was at a low risk of reoffending.

She said the report's recommendation for such a light sentence of supervision and community work reflected his character and how involved he was in the process.

Jones' employer described him as "kind, thoughtful and respectful", while his mother recalled the times her son had broken down in tears due to the emotional toll the crash had on him.

Crown prosecutor Duncan McWilliam pushed for a jail term but accepted that home detention should be the minimum sanction imposed.

He said the perverting charge was serious as it meant the editing of the film lost crucial evidence "forever".

Jones' lawyer Russell Boot said his client was genuinely remorseful, a fact backed up by a pre sentence report which suggested a sentence of supervision and community work - a sentence both accepted as inappropriate by defence and the crown.

He said his client's editing of the film was a "misguided attempt" to help Cossey.

Justice Hinton accepted Jones was committed to turning his life around and took into account his lack of previous convictions and young age at the time of the crash, 19.

However, she dismissed Boot's submission that it was simply a misguided attempt. She said he knew what the content held and that police were investigating and would want to know what it showed.

She regarded the deleting of footage as "quite serious" and took a starting point of 18 months' prison and considered the pair fleeing the scene as "callous".

She said given the seriousness of those injured in the crash, Jones played a material if not equal part in fleeing the scene as Cossey.

"I accept for you it was a horrific, one-off, event followed by a very grave error of judgment," the judge told Jones.

As well as handing down a home detention sentence, Justice Hinton also disqualified him from driving for one year.

The driver of the car Jones was a passenger in, Dylan Cossey, 21, last month avoided a jail term and was sentenced to 12 months' home detention and disqualified from driving for seven years.

He was also ordered to complete 400 hours' community work.

The Crown has since filed an application to appeal the sentence and is currently being reviewed by the Crown Solicitor's office.