On April 4, Daniel George Gavin, left, Samuel Lance Hawkins, and Jason John Campbell were sentenced to home detention and community work for the August 2014 manslaughter of Hawera grandmother Christine Fairweather.

Christine Fairweather would have likely been the first person to forgive the three men responsible for causing her death, according to her family.

On Monday, Samuel Lance Hawkins, 19, Daniel George Gavin, 21, and Jason John Campbell, 18, appeared in the High Court at New Plymouth to be sentenced on manslaughter charges.

In February, the men pleaded guilty to causing the death of Christine Anne Fairweather, 57, in August 2014 when she was hit by a car after she had gotten out of her own vehicle to remove metal barriers that had been placed in the middle of the road by the trio.

Deena Coster John Fairweather poses with A portrait of John and Christine Fairweather.

Justice Matthew Muir handed down sentences of home detention and community work in front of a packed public gallery, which included members of Fairweather's family along with support for the three defendants.

READ MORE:

* Manslaughter charges over barrier death of Christine Fairweather

* Barrier death driver sentenced

* Trio plead guilty to manslaughter of South Taranaki woman

During the hearing, Dianne Coleman told the court of the profound impact her sister's death had on the family.

While the restorative justice meetings held with Gavin and Hawkins had helped her gain some insight into what happened, Coleman said that only went so far.

"I can understand a prank can happen, but I do not understand this one," she said.

Campbell initially agreed to attend a restorative justice meeting, but this did not eventuate.

However, she said her older sibling would have been the first to accept their faults.

"I know Christine would have forgiven you all," she said.

Christine's husband John Fairweather said his wife was a selfless person, who always put everyone else first.

Before her death, she was looking forward to starting a new job and volunteered at Hospice and Hawera's Lysaght Watt Art Gallery.

"That's why she was killed, she was thinking of others before herself," he said.

On August 2, 2014, about 10.30pm, the group were travelling in Gavin's car to Normanby when they stopped near the Atkinson St and Waihi Rd intersection.

Gavin stayed in the car while Hawkins and Campbell got out. The pair then picked up four of the barriers, which were being used by contractors to protect holes dug to lay fibre optic cable, and placed them across the road, blocking off both lanes. They then got back in the car and the group left.

About 11.45pm, Fairweather was driving in the southbound lane, returning to Hawera after babysitting her grandchildren in Kaponga.

After she hit one of the gates, she stopped her car and put on her hazard lights. Her headlights were also on full beam due the wet and windy weather conditions that night.

As she went to remove one of the gates, she was hit by a ute, which was travelling towards Stratford. She died at the scene.

The ute driver, Geoff Douglas Hart, pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death and was sentenced to 100 hours of community work in January 2015.

Muir said he did not accept the trio's actions were "simple tomfoolery."

"This was not simply a prank gone wrong.

"She ran headlong into the trap you had set," he said.

During the hearing, Coleman thanked Gavin for his honesty during the restorative justice meeting he attended with the family.

She said Gavin told them how Hawkins and Campbell had threatened to kill him if he spoke up about what happened. The trio are no longer friends.

She said in contrast, at the meeting held with Hawkins, he seemed to be more worried about his own life rather than the Fairweather family.

Crown prosecutor Justin Marinovich said Gavin's involvement in the restorative justice process had a "real impact" on all involved and he deserved additional credit for the steps he agreed to as a result of the meeting, which included counselling.

Marinovich accepted home detention and community work sentences were appropriate for all three defendants.

Gavin's lawyer Kylie Pascoe said the restorative justice process had helped her client fully realise the impact his actions had on the family.

Pascoe, who also appeared for Hawkins on behalf of Susan Hughes QC, said the view the victims had of the teenager following the restorative justice meeting needed to be considered alongside his age and lack of maturity.

Campbell's lawyer Patrick Mooney said his client was also remorseful for what had happened and he had trouble coping following Fairweather's death.

"This is a young man who really cannot face the gravity of what has occurred," Mooney said.

In his judgment, Muir said all three offenders would be given credit for their youth and early guilty pleas.

While Gavin was given additional credit for his show of remorse, Campbell's past offending saw his home detention sentence increased by three months. In March, the 18-year-old was sentenced to six months community detention for domestic violent offending.

Muir sentenced Gavin to seven months' home detention, Hawkins will have to serve nine months' home detention while Campbell was sentenced to 12 months' home detention. Each will also have to complete 100 hours of community work.

After sentencing, Muir told the defendants the one thing they could do to honour Fairweather's memory was to straighten out their own lives.

"Mrs Fairweather was a kind and compassionate woman who despite these tragic events would have, according to her family, only wanted the best for each of you," Muir said.

Sign up to receive our new evening newsletter Two Minutes of Stuff - the news, but different