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 having not been applied since 1957.[1] 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 and are subject to electronic tagging for the rest of their life.[2]

Life imprisonment in New Zealand for crimes other than murder is relatively rare. Only seven life sentences since 1980 have been for crimes other than murder – one for manslaughter in 1996, one for an act of terrorism in 2020 and five for drug offences in 1985, 1996, 2008 (two) and 2009. In contrast, there have been 934 life sentences for murder between 1980 and 2019.[3]

Offences

Life imprisonment is the mandatory sentence for treason. It is the presumptive sentence for murder, being mandatory unless in the circumstances it would be manifestly unjust. Life imprisonment is an optional sentence for aircraft hijacking,[4] Class A drug dealing,[5] manslaughter[6] and terrorism.[7]

Life imprisonment for murder

The imposition of life imprisonment for murder is codified in sections 102 to 104 of the Sentencing Act 2002.[8]

102 Presumption in favour of life imprisonment for murder

(1) An offender who is convicted of murder must be sentenced to imprisonment for life unless, given the circumstances of the offence and the offender, a sentence of imprisonment for life would be manifestly unjust.
(2) If a court does not impose a sentence of imprisonment for life on an offender convicted of murder, it must give written reasons for not doing so.
(3) This section is subject to section 86E(2).

103 Imposition of minimum period of imprisonment or imprisonment without parole if life imprisonment imposed for murder

(1) If a court sentences an offender convicted of murder to imprisonment for life it must,—
(a) if section 86E(1) does not apply to the conviction,—
(i) order that the offender serve a minimum period of imprisonment under that sentence; or
(ii) if subsection (2A) applies, make an order under that subsection; or
(b) in any case where section 86E(1) applies to the conviction, take the action prescribed by that section.
(2) The minimum term of imprisonment ordered may not be less than 10 years, and must be the minimum term of imprisonment that the court considers necessary to satisfy all or any of the following purposes:
(a) holding the offender accountable for the harm done to the victim and the community by the offending:
(b) denouncing the conduct in which the offender was involved:
(c) deterring the offender or other persons from committing the same or a similar offence:
(d) protecting the community from the offender.
(2A) If the court that sentences an offender convicted of murder to imprisonment for life is satisfied that no minimum term of imprisonment would be sufficient to satisfy 1 or more of the purposes stated in subsection (2), the court may order that the offender serve the sentence without parole.
(2B) The court may not make an order under subsection (2A) unless the offender was 18 years of age or over at the time that the offender committed the murder.
(3-6) [Repealed]
(7) Subsection (2) is subject to section 104.

104 Imposition of minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years or more

(1) The court must make an order under section 103 imposing a minimum period of imprisonment of at least 17 years in the following circumstances, unless it is satisfied that it would be manifestly unjust to do so:
(a) if the murder was committed in an attempt to avoid the detection, prosecution, or conviction of any person for any offence or in any other way to attempt to subvert the course of justice; or
(b) if the murder involved calculated or lengthy planning, including making an arrangement under which money or anything of value passes (or is intended to pass) from one person to another; or
(c) if the murder involved the unlawful entry into, or unlawful presence in, a dwelling place; or
(d) if the murder was committed in the course of another serious offence; or
(e) if the murder was committed with a high level of brutality, cruelty, depravity, or callousness; or
(ea) if the murder was committed as part of a terrorist act (as defined in section 5(1) of the Terrorism Suppression Act 2002); or
(f) if the deceased was a constable or a prison officer acting in the course of his or her duty; or
(g) if the deceased was particularly vulnerable because of his or her age, health, or because of any other factor; or
(h) if the offender has been convicted of 2 or more counts of murder, whether or not arising from the same circumstances; or
(i) in any other exceptional circumstances.
(2) This section does not apply to an offender in respect of whom an order under section 86E(2)(b) or (4)(a) or 103(2A) is made.

Circumstances where life imprisonment might be deemed manifestly unjust include mercy killings, failed suicide pacts, and "battered defendants" who were subjected to "prolonged and severe abuse".[9]

Since the Sentencing and Parole Reform Act 2010 came into force, judges must sentence offenders to life imprisonment without possibility of parole if they have a previous conviction for a serious violent offence, unless given the circumstances it would be manifestly unjust to do so.[10] In R v Harrison, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Crown's appeal of two cases where the sentencing judges applied the manifestly unjust provision and gave the offenders life imprisonment with possibility of parole. The Court of Appeal ruled that imposing life imprisonment without parole in these cases would be inconsistent with the right not to be subjected to disproportionately severe treatment or punishment under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, especially given one offender's previous serious violent offence was at the minor end of the scale (an indecent assault conviction for pinching a female corrections officer's bottom).[11]

There is no minimum age for imposing life imprisonment. The youngest people sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealand were aged 13 years at the time of the offence.[12]

Case law
  • R v Williams [2005] 2 NZLR 506 – judgement providing guidance on sentencing offenders subject to the 17-year minimum period of imprisonment contained in section 104 of the Sentencing Act 2002.
  • Churchward v R [2011] NZCA 531; (2011) 25 CRNZ 446 – judgement providing guidance on imposing minimum periods of imprisonment when sentencing adolescent offenders.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Longest minimum periods of imprisonment

A sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole has been given only once, to Brenton Tarrant for the Christchurch mosque shootings in March 2019.[13] The longest minimum period of imprisonment on a sentence of life imprisonment with possibility of parole is 30 years, currently being served by William Dwane Bell.

Sentences imposed with a minimum term of imprisonment of 20 years or more or with no possibility of parole include:

LengthOffenderDate of offenceDescription
No parole Brenton Harrison Tarrant 15 March 2019 Perpetrating the Christchurch mosque shootings, involving 51 murders, 40 attempted murders, and engaging in a terrorist act.
30 yearsWilliam Dwane Bell8 December 2001Murder of three people and attempted murder of a fourth during an armed robbery at the Panmure RSA clubrooms. He was initially jailed for a minimum period of 33 years, which was reduced by 3 years on appeal.[14]
28 years Paul Russell Wilson 7 April 2018 Murder of Nicole Tuxford. He had murdered his girlfriend Kimberley Schroder in 1994 and killed Tuxford while on parole.[15]
27 yearsRussell John Tully1 September 2014Murder of two staff members and attempted murder of a third at the Ashburton Work and Income office.[16] He also received an 11-year sentence for the attempted murder and 4 years for firearms-related charges, served concurrently.[17]
26 yearsGraeme Burton6 January 2007One murder and ten other offences – 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 – during a shooting spree in the Wainuiomata hills. He was also sentenced to preventive detention with a non-parole period of 26 years for the ten secondary offences.[18] He had murdered a man in 1992 and was on parole in 2007.[19]
25 yearsBruce Howse4 December 2001Murder of his stepdaughters, 12-year-old Saliel Aplin and 11-year-old Olympia Jetson, at their Masterton home. Reduced from 28 years on appeal.
24 yearsTony Douglas Robertson24 May 2014Murder of Blessie Gotingco.[20] He was on parole from a prison sentence for abducting and molesting a 5-year-old girl.
23 yearsLiam Reid15 November 2007Murder of Emma Agnew in Christchurch. Reduced from 26 years on appeal.
23 yearsJason SomervilleSeptember 2008, August 2009Murder of neighbour Tisha Lowry in 2008 and his wife Rebecca Chamberlain in 2009, burying both bodies under his home in Christchurch.[21]
23 yearsJeremy McLaughlin10 November 2011Murder of 13-year-old Jade Bayliss by strangulation while burgling her Christchurch house, before trying to cover up the murder by setting fire to the house. He had previously been in a relationship with Bayliss's mother but the relationship ended after conflict between him and Jade. He also received 8 years for the burglary and 4 years for arson, served concurrently. He had previously been sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in Australia for the 1995 manslaughter of 14-year-old Phillip Vidot.[22]
21 yearsHayden McKenzieLate 2003Murder of Jae-hyeon Kim. He had murdered James (Janis) Bambrough in 1999 and had already served four years for that, so will serve a total of 25 years before being eligible for parole.[23]
21 yearsKamal Gyanendra Reddy2006Murder of his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter.[24]
20 yearsMark Lundy29 August 2000Murder of his wife Christine and seven-year-old daughter Amber at their Palmerston North home. Increased from 17 years on appeal. The Privy Council quashed Lundy's convictions in 2013 and ordered a retrial. In 2015, Lundy was re-convicted of the murders and re-sentenced to the earlier 20-year minimum imprisonment.
20 yearsDavid Konia27 May 2005Murder 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.[25]

Antonie Dixon was given a minimum term of 20 years for the murder of James Te Aute on 21 January 2003, but the conviction was later quashed. He was re-tried and reconvicted, but committed suicide in his prison cell before he could be re-sentenced.

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.[26]

Preventive detention

There is also provision for an indefinite sentence of preventive detention, which can be given for sexual or violent crimes for which life imprisonment is not available (preventive detention can be imposed alongside life imprisonment, for example, where convictions for sexual or violent crimes accompany a murder conviction). 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.[27]

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

References
  1. "Here's What's Happening in New Zealand 25 Years After Abolishing the Death Penalty". Mic. Apr 13, 2015. Retrieved Nov 10, 2019.
  2. "FAQ". New Zealand Parole Board. Archived from the original on 28 July 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. "Adults convicted in court by sentence type - most serious offence calendar year". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  4. Aviation Crimes Act 1972, section 3
  5. Misuse of Drugs Act 1975, section 6(2)(a)
  6. Crimes Act 1961, section 177
  7. Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, section 6A
  8. "Sentencing Act 2002 No 9 (as at 22 December 2016)". New Zealand Legislation. Parliamentary Counsel Office. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. Chhana, Rajesh; Spier, Philip; Roberts, Susan; Hurd, Chris (March 2004). The Sentencing Act 2002: Monitoring the First Year (PDF). pp. 13–14. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  10. Sentencing Act 2002, section 86E
  11. R v Harrison & Ors, 2016 NZCA 381 (10 August 2016).
  12. "New Zealand's youngest killers". 3 News NZ. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  13. Mead, Thomas (27 August 2020). "Breaking: Christchurch mosque killer sentenced to life without parole". 1 News. TVNZ. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  14. "Record sentence for RSA murders". Television New Zealand. February 13, 2003. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
  15. "Double murderer Paul Russell Wilson 'unlikely to ever be released'". Stuff. Retrieved 2019-11-24.
  16. "Life sentence of Work and Income killer Russell Tully". 3 News. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  17. R v Tully, [2016] NZHC 1133 (27 May 2016).
  18. Independent Police Conduct Authority Report into the Shooting of Graeme Burton. Wellington: Independent Police Conduct Authority. 2008. p. 45. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  19. Watts, Jerram (19 February 2010). "Burton sentenced to preventive detention". 3 News. Retrieved 2 May 2015.
  20. R v Robertson, [2015] NZHC 1849 (6 August 2015).
  21. Leask, Anna (23 May 2010). "'House of Horrors' transcript - a lurid tale of death and sex". Herald on Sunday. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  22. R v McLaughlin, [2013] NZHC 2625 (9 October 2013).
  23. "White supremacist had killed before". Otago Daily Times. NZPA. 5 December 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  24. R v Reddy, [2016] NZHC 1367 (22 June 2016).
  25. King, Kathryn (21 February 2015). "Double killer David Konia's death shocks families". Manawatu Standard. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  26. "Female murderer to appeal record sentence". The Dominion Post. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  27. 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.
  28. Offenders on Indeterminate Sentences (PDF). Topic Series. Wellington: Department of Corrections. 2014. p. 5. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
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