Life imprisonment in New Zealand

Life imprisonment has been the most severe criminal sentence in New Zealand since the death penalty was abolished in 1989. Life imprisonment is mandatory for treason and the presumptive sentence for murder. It may be imposed for terrorism,[1] manslaughter and Class A drug dealing. Offenders sentenced to life imprisonment must serve a minimum of 10 years imprisonment before they are eligible for parole, although the sentencing judge may set a longer minimum period or no minimum period at all (i.e. life without parole). Released offenders remain on parole for the rest of their life.[2]

Only six life sentences since 1980 have been for crimes other than murder - one for manslaughter in 1996, and five for drug offences in 1985, 1996, 2008 (two) and 2009. In contrast, there have been 813 life sentences for murder during the same period.[3]

Life imprisonment for murder

Since the Sentencing Act 2002 came into force, life imprisonment must be imposed for murder unless it would be "manifestly unjust".[4] Cases where it might be unjust involve mercy killings, failed suicide pacts, and "battered defendants" who were subjected to "prolonged and severe abuse".[5] Life imprisonment was mandatory for all cases of murder from 1962 (when the death penalty for murder was abolished) to 2002.

In serious cases with certain aggravating factors, sentencing judges must impose a minimum of 17 years imprisonment unless it would be manifestly unjust to do so;[6] this includes those involving a high level of violence, premeditated murder, contract killing, multiple/serial murder, the murder of a police officer or public official, and home invasion. Since the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 came into force, judges in extreme cases may set no minimum period, which means that the offender will spend the remainder of their life in prison without parole.[7] Judges must also sentence offenders to life imprisonment without possibility of parole if they have a previous conviction for a serious violent offence, unless it would be manifestly unjust to do so.[8]

If the offender was aged under 18 at the time of the crime, they must have a minimum period of imprisonment set; they cannot be sentenced to serve life imprisonment without parole.[9] The youngest people sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealand were aged 13 years at the time of the offence.[10]

Longest minimum periods of imprisonment

The longest minimum period of imprisonment on a sentence of life imprisonment is 30 years, currently being served by William Dwane Bell. No person in New Zealand has yet been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

The longest minimum term of imprisonments are:

Length Offender Date of offence Description
30 years William Dwane Bell 8 December 2001 Bell shot dead three people, and seriously injured another person during an armed robbery at the Panmure RSA clubrooms. Bell was initially jailed for a minimum period of 33 years, which was reduced by 3 years on appeal.[11]
27 years Russell John Tully 1 September 2014 Tully entered the Ashburton Work and Income office and shot dead two staff members and attempted to shoot dead a third.[12] In addition, he also received 11 years for attempted murder and 4 years for firearms-related charges, served concurrently.[13]
26 years Graeme Burton 6 January 2007 Burton murdered during a shooting spree in the Wainuiomata hills. He had a previous murder conviction from 1992.[14] He was also sentenced to preventive detention with a non-parole period of 26 years for ten other offences committed during the shooting spree in 2007 – two of attempted murder, two of aggravated robbery, two of kidnapping, two of using a firearm against a law enforcement officer, aggravated injury and injuring with reckless disregard.[15]
25 years Bruce Howse 4 December 2001 Murder of his stepdaughters, 12-year-old Saliel Aplin and 11-year-old Olympia Jetson, at their Masterton home. Reduced from 28 years on appeal.
25 years Hayden McKenzie 1999, late 2003 Murder of James (Janis) Bambrough and Jae-hyeon Kim (two separate incidents).
24 years Tony Douglas Robertson 24 May 2014 Murder of Blessie Gotingco.[16]
23 years Jeremy McLaughlin 10 November 2011 McLaughlin strangled 13-year-old Jade Bayliss to death while burgling her Somerfield, Christchurch house, before trying to cover up the murder by setting fire to the house. McLaughlin had previously been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in Western Australia for the 1995 manslaughter of 14-year-old Phillip Vidot. In addition, he also received 8 years for burglary and 4 years for arson, served concurrently.[17]
23 years Liam Reid 15 November 2007 Murder of Emma Agnew in Christchurch. Reduced from 26 years on appeal.
21 years Kamal Gyanendra Reddy 2006 Murder of his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter.[18]
20 years Antonie Dixon 21 January 2003 Murder of James Te Aute. Dixon committed suicide in his prison cell on 4 February 2009.
20 years David Konia 27 May 2005 Murder of Margaret Waldin and Ted Ferguson at Ferguson's Feilding home. Konia died on 14 January 2015 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer a year earlier.[19]
20 years Mark Lundy 29 August 2000 Murder of his wife Christine and seven-year-old daughter Amber at their Kelvin Grove, Palmerston North home. Increased from 17 years on appeal. Several problems with the prosecution's evidence saw the Privy Council quash Lundy's conviction in October 2013 and ordered a retrial. In April 2015, Lundy was again found guilty of Christine and Amber's murders and re-sentenced to the original 20-year minimum imprisonment

The longest minimum period for a woman is 19 years, currently being served by Tracy Jean Goodman for the murder of pensioner Mona Morriss in the course of a burglary in Marton in January 2005.[20]

Preventive detention

There is also provision for an indefinite sentence of preventive detention, which is given for lesser crimes than treason, murder or manslaughter. Since the Sentencing Act 2002 came into force, this has been given to repeat sexual offenders and serious violent recidivist offenders. Preventive detention has a minimum period of imprisonment of five years, but the sentencing judge can extend this if they believe that the prisoner's history warrants it. The sentence of preventive detention was first introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 1954.[21]

The longest minimum period of imprisonment on a sentence of preventive detention is one of 28 years, which was given in 1984.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, section 6A
  2. ↑ "FAQ". New Zealand Parole Board. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ↑ "Adults convicted in court by sentence type - most serious offence calendar year". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Sentencing Act 2002, section 102
  5. ↑ Chhana, Rajesh; Spier, Philip; Roberts, Susan; Hurd, Chris (March 2004). The Sentencing Act 2002: Monitoring the First Year. pp. 13–14. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Sentencing Act 2002, section 104
  7. ↑ Sentencing Act 2002, section 103 (2A)
  8. ↑ Sentencing Act 2002, section 86E
  9. ↑ Sentencing Act 2002, section 103 (2B)
  10. ↑ "New Zealand's youngest killers". 3 News NZ. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Record sentence for RSA murders". Television New Zealand. February 13, 2003. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  12. ↑ "Life sentence of Work and Income killer Russell Tully". 3 News. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  13. ↑ R v Tully, [2016] NZHC 1133 (27 May 2016).
  14. ↑ Watts, Jerram (19 February 2010). "Burton sentenced to preventive detention". 3 News. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  15. ↑ Independent Police Conduct Authority Report into the Shooting of Graeme Burton. Wellington: Independent Police Conduct Authority. 2008. p. 45. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  16. ↑ R v Robertson, [2015] NZHC 1849 (6 August 2015).
  17. ↑ R v McLaughlin, [2013] NZHC 2625 (9 October 2013).
  18. ↑ R v Reddy, [2016] NZHC 1367 (22 June 2016).
  19. ↑ King, Kathryn (21 February 2015). "Double killer David Konia's death shocks families". Manawatu Standard. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  20. ↑ "Female murderer to appeal record sentence". The Dominion Post. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  21. ↑ Gavaghan, Colin; Snelling, Jeanne; McMillan, John (2014). Better and Better and Better? A Legal and Ethical Analysis of Preventive Detention in New Zealand (PDF). University of Otago. p. 9.
  22. ↑ Offenders on Indeterminate Sentences (PDF). Topic Series. Wellington: Department of Corrections. 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 26 May 2016.

Further reading

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