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What a tragedy unfolded in Nelson yesterday, with the news that Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming has died from her injuries after being rammed by a car in Nelson just hours after the new year began. She was a daughter, a mother, and a wife—someone who had given 38 years of service to her community. Described by Police Commissioner Richard Chambers as a “beautiful soul” and an “outstanding police officer,” this is a devastating piece of news at the start of the new year. 

It’s also a story that feels all too familiar, doesn’t it? Not just because of international stories where a car is used as a weapon, but because here in New Zealand, alcohol-fuelled rage and recklessness behind the wheel seem to have become increasingly common. 

Before I continue, I want to extend my deepest sympathies to all those affected by this tragedy—from Lyn’s family and friends to her wider family in the police force and the Nelson community, who must be reeling at this news.  

It's obviously too early to know all the facts but so far, this has been described as senseless and unprovoked. And frankly, it’s not much of a reach to assume alcohol is involved, because I can barely imagine such a callous act happening if anyone involved were of sober mind. 

But it’s moments like these that make me think we really need to be a lot harder on such callous, reckless violent acts. Maybe that’s a visceral, gut reaction to this tragedy but I’m going to repeat something I’ve been saying for quite a while: the time has come for us to go extra hard on people who commit such acts under the influence of alcohol. 

Obviously, it’s not just the law that is going to be the way to address our attitude to alcohol. 

Right now, and yes I'm speaking out of anger – and why not?  

But I don't think the person responsible for this crime deserves one shred of mercy from the justice system when hopefully they are brought to justice. It's moments like these when I've had a gutsful of the focus switching to whether the accused was remorseful or had a bad upbringing – whatever sob story gets served up as a pathetic excuse for what they have done. The person driving that vehicle appears to have shown zero mercy or compassion for Lyn Fleming or her colleague Adam Ramsay.  

In return, they deserve no compassion or mercy from the justice system. The bar should be set extremely high for any mitigating circumstances in such a callous act.  And if alcohol was involved—and let’s be honest, it’s a brave person who would bet otherwise—then that should absolutely be treated as an aggravating factor in dealing with the perpetrator of this tragedy. 

None of this will undo this tragedy. We can't turn back time. But it is time for the message to go out from the justice system that the law, and the enforcement of it for cases like this, will be fearsome. Not at the expense of fairness in the due process that must play out – but once accountability is established, I hope a sentence is dished out that takes people's breath away. A sentence that resonates throughout NZ and sends the message that callous acts like this, have no excuse.