A jury has convicted two men for their role in a fatal street race in Upper Moutere.
It is the first time in the Nelson region that people who took part in a street race, but were not the main participants, had been charged under new boy-racer legislation.
The jury of seven women and five men found Jacob Baird-King, 23, of Nelson, and Carl John Kempton, 19, of Richmond, guilty of three jointly laid charges of inciting, counselling or abetting the drivers of two vehicles to race, resulting in the death of one driver.
Baird-King was also found guilty of a separate charge of driving while disqualified.
The jury reached its unanimous verdicts in four hours yesterday.
The case related to a street race on the Moutere Highway on June 28 last year. Aaron Chalmers-Hill, 21, of Nelson, was killed when he lost control of his Nissan Silvia at high speed on a bend just before Upper Moutere.
Mr Chalmers-Hill had been racing two Honda vehicles from near the karting track at Redwood Valley. He had just overtaken a Honda Prelude driven by Ralph Bastian, 23, when he lost control and left the road, hitting a tree stump. He died instantly and his passenger, Sean Mortimer, was seriously injured.
Bastian has been charged with the manslaughter of Mr Chalmers-Hill. A trial is scheduled for later this year in Nelson.
The charges were laid under the Land Transport Amendment Act 2003, known as the "boy racer act", aimed at cracking down on illegal street racing and burnouts.
The Act increased the maximum penalty for killing or injuring someone while racing illegally to five years in prison or a $20,000 fine.
Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne McCoy of the Nelson CIB said he believed it was the first time that charges of abetting or counselling someone to race had been laid in the region under the Act.
Boy racers needed to be aware of their actions and that it was illegal to race or be part of a race, Mr McCoy said.
He hoped the case would highlight the risks and dangers of illegal street racing to young people.
"People don't get their arms twisted to participate in races."
Judge Stephen Harrop yesterday remanded Baird-King and Kempton on bail to July 21 for sentencing. He called for pre-sentence reports and reports on home and community detention options. Fairfax
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