Police Sergeant Lyn Fleming's husband confronts killer as life sentence handed down

The Police Sergeant's family gave powerful statements, saying while he took her life, she will never be forgotten. Slain Nelson police officer Lyn Fleming's family have told her murderer that while he took her life, he will never be able to erase her legacy. Hayden Tasker, 33, has been sentenced in the Nelson High Court to life in prison with no parole for 22 years for Fleming's murder.

He was found guilty of murdering Fleming and seriously injuring her colleague, Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay, after a two-week trial at the Christchurch High Court in May. The pair were overseeing the New Year's Eve policing operation in Nelson and were on foot patrol in the Buxton Square car park just after 2am on 1 January 2025 when they were hit by a white Honda Odyssey driven by Tasker. Fleming was thrown around 20 metres in the impact and taken to Nelson Hospital where she was put on life support.

Her injuries were described as catastrophic and unsurvivable. Her son, Aren Olsen, told the court his mother was gone long before he got to hospital. At her bedside, he said there was no opportunity to say goodbye.

"The truth is that Lyn Fleming was gone long before I made it back to her. Her brain and with it every trace of the person I knew and admired was already shattered and stolen from us by this act of cruel indifference, he said. He said if there was any justice, it would come from his mother's enduring legacy of love and aroha for her family and her community, while the name and deeds of the person whose cowardice took her was erased from time and memory.

"I condemn the offender for his actions, but I refuse to allow myself to hate him. He's stolen too much from me and from this family and I deny him the right to take any more, Olsen said. Fleming's daughter, Rayna Olsen, said her life changed in a matter of seconds when she got a phone call on New Year's Day.

"The images and sounds from the hospital haunt me every single day. I still hear the doctors telling us her injuries were not survivable, she said. Olsen was pregnant at the time and said Tasker took away Fleming's chance to be a grandmother.

As a result, her happiness and joy had been replaced by grief, trauma and sadness. Lyn Fleming's son Aren Olsen, with his father Bryn Olsen and sister Rayna Olsen. "Mum made this place feel like home, she made me feel safe.

She filled our lives with love and without her, everything was different, she said. "She was the person I could always rely on for support, guidance and unconditional love. Losing her has devastated every part of my life.

Rayna Olsen said she experienced nightmares, flashbacks, fear and trauma. "The weight of my loss is suffocating and I am drowning in it, she said. Fleming's husband, Bryn Olsen, told Tasker that his actions that day were cowardly, as was his choice to defend a charge of murder. He told Tasker that he did not want to give him another thought after the hearing.

"Lyn helped people, you hurt people. Lyn succeeded in life, you failed. Lyn will be remembered, you will be forgotten, he said.

"I just hope the sentence you receive is long enough that by the time you are released you are too old to hurt anyone else. "You leave no legacy. You are forgotten.

Ramsay told the court he remembered regaining consciousness and realising he had been hit by a car. He was left with head injuries, a dislocated shoulder, breathing problems and cuts to the bone. Ramsay said the attack profoundly affected police staff, with some resigning or changing roles after witnessing the violence.

Addressing Tasker directly in the dock, Ramsay said he hoped Tasker's time in prison felt as empty as the void Fleming's death has left for her family and friends. Over two weeks, a Christchurch High Court jury heard from more than 40 witnesses, including members of the public and police officers who were in the central Nelson car park in the early hours of New Year's Day. Tasker admitted two charges of dangerous driving causing injury and at the beginning of the trial and had earlier plead guilty to charges of driving while disqualified and driving with excess blood alcohol. The court heard how Tasker drove into the Buxton Square car park in his White Honda Odyssey just after 2am."