Simon Greenwood told officers car ‘suddenly appeared’ before Nikki Gapes killed, court hears

Simon Greenwood with partner Nikki Gapes were in a motorbike crash in 2018 on the Kaipara Coast Highway. Photo / Supplied

Businessman Simon Greenwood allegedly strung together profanities while talking to police in an ambulance on Kaipara Coast Highway, shortly after the crash which killed his partner Nicola Gapes.

The motorcyclist had been overtaking cars on his Kawasaki ZX with Gapes, 43, in pillion on a fine afternoon of Auckland Anniversary Day in 2018.

They were making their way back to Auckland from a romantic weekend in Russell on the alternative route while holidaymakers jammed up State Highway 1.

A grey Mazda suddenly appeared in front, Greenwood told officer David Best in the aftermath, a court heard.

He tried to brake but could not stop the bike in time. It collided with the vehicle.

Gapes died at the scene from her injuries.

Greenwood has been charged with careless driving causing death and is standing trial at Auckland District Court before Judge Michael Crosbie.

He sat quietly behind his lawyer, David Jones QC.

The public gallery was packed with friends and family of both Greenwood and Gapes.

Mother-of-three Nikki Gapes, 43, was killed in this January 2018 crash near Mangakura Boat Club on the Kaipara Coast Highway. Photo / Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust

A second motorcyclist seriously injured in the horror crash today recounted the terrifying moments after he was flung from his vehicle.

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“I was lying there like: ‘This is big, this is big.’ I could start hearing people coming … I knew I was in serious trouble,” Jeremy Winks said.

He and Greenwood were overtaking holiday traffic heading south on the highway and collided with a car turning into the Mangakura Boat Club, the court heard from a number of witnesses.

Jeremy Winks was driving his own red sports bike.

He said the weather was “prime condition” for riding that day, and the northbound lane was clear for overtaking.

He remembers asking people who rushed to his aid following the collision to remove his helmet because he wanted to throw up, the court heard.

“An overwhelming sense of heat and pain. Pain and heat, I was just so hot. I said: ‘Get my boots off’. I sort of lay there. I asked if my toes were moving,” he said.

“I could smell the fuel … one person stayed and kept me talking … one person held a sarong or something to keep the shade over me.

“Time became irrelevant,” Winks said.

Greenwood, aged 52 at the time, was knocked unconscious and suffered broken ribs and internal injuries.

First responders found him sitting on the ground, in shock, asking where Gapes was.

He was hospitalised for three days.

The court heard how weather and visibility was fine the day of the collision, and the road was dry. There was no alcohol or drugs detected in Greenwood.

The driver involved in the crash that day, Rana Kipa, saw a “flash” in his rear view mirror before he started indicating off the state highway and into the boat club entrance way, the court heard.

He then felt two impacts “one after the other” hit the rear of his car, which pushed his car forward.

“We were just in shock. Our baby was screaming in the back seat. It was all … happened pretty quickly. A lot of people came rushing around.

“I saw the two guys on the bikes but I didn’t know about the lady until I saw her down the road,” he told the court.

He drove over the brow of a hill and turned into the boat club so his partner could use the restroom.

He claimed he waited for a driver travelling in the opposite direction to pass before turning in. He “progressively” slowed down, indicated for “at least five” seconds and looked in his rear view mirror around four times, he said.

“I’m on the road every day. It was just another turn for me.”

Simon Greenwood’s defence lawyer, David Jones QC. Photo / Michael Craig

“I suggest you simply didn’t look behind you at all, went to turn into the boat club well before the actual entrance way, and you had no idea two motorbikes were about to overtake you, that’s the position isn’t it?” Jones QC asked Kipa under cross examination.

Kipa asked the lawyer to repeat the question before replying: “No, that’s not right, no.”

Kipa’s partner, Tracey Potter, who was also in the car, said there was a “big bang” and the car was shunted forward.

“We had another big bang which pushed us into the barrier,” she said.

“I jumped out, looked around and saw a bike on the road and someone lying by the front tyre of the passenger’s side. I looked up and saw someone rolling further down the bridge.”

Simon Greenwood is on trial for careless driving causing the death of his partner, Nikki Gapes. Photo / Supplied.

Blair Stanley was driving at least one car behind Kipa’s grey Mazda, the court heard.

He heard two motorbikes approaching from behind before seeing them attempt to overtake the line of cars in the northbound lane.

“There’s a long stretch of road. There were no cars in front … coming northbound so it was a clear path, you could overtake,” he said in his evidence.

“I’d obviously seen the passenger get thrown over the vehicle, so I pulled over straight away.”

Dylan French saw a red and a black motorbike “ducking in and out” of cars to “get ahead of the line” before the collision.

“The black one was in front, the red one was following. They continued down the hill.

“The grey car had pulled out to go to the facility on the right. The motorbike – the black one – slammed into the back of the silver car and the red one had no chance at that point to brake really, and hit the silver car,” he told the court.

The Crown has called seven witnesses.

The trial is set down for two days.