NRL star granted leave as mother is charged with manslaughter and dangerous driving

The mother of one of Brisbane Broncos’ star players has been charged with manslaughter following a crash in which three people sadly died in Gold Coast, Australia.

Broncos’ forward Payne Haas’ mother, Uiatu ‘Joan’ Taufua, was alleged to have been in a two-car collision that resulted in the deaths of all three occupants of the other car.

The incident happened on December 30th and it was confirmed today that Ms Taufua has been charged on three counts of manslaughter in addition to one count of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, driving without a licence and evading police.

Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Proctor said: “We’re still painting the picture with CCTV … we’ve got a lot of footage.”

Fox Sports in Australia also report that Proctor told reporters that Ms Taufua, 46, that police would allege she was driving in an “extremely dangerous manner” with her Mercedes wagon alleged to have been driven on the wrong side of the road.

The incident with which the manslaughter charges are brought against her saw a car forced off road into a power pole with the three occupants having to be freed by emergency services before sadly passing away at the scene.

The Broncos have now granted Haas leave from the club releasing the following statement on their club website:

“Broncos forward Payne Haas has been granted personal leave from the club.

“While the NRL squad returns to pre-season training this week, Payne will rejoin the team at training on January 16.”