New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Assault on a child

Legal area

Court

13 Dec 2023

R v ATW [2023] NZHC 3661

Citation

[2023] NZHC 3661
Court

High Court

Given Crown withdrew its call for preventive detention and the defendant had completed an intensive rehabilitation programme (Te Piriti) with assessed reduction in sexual offending risk, the judge lawfully imposed a finite custodial sentence sized to correspond broadly with completion of treatment and to protect the community under the Leitch principle as affirmed in Bell; the court adopted the Crown's starting point and adjustments resulting in a concurrent finite sentence of six years, four months and two weeks on the sexual offending counts and two months concurrent on the assault count, w…
27 Sept 2023

GSB v POLICE [2023] NZHC 2690

Citation

[2023] NZHC 2690
Court

High Court

The Judge did not err in credibility assessments or in preferring the older boy's evidence; the appellant's and partner's accounts contained material inconsistencies undermining their reliability; the older boy provided sufficient evidence that force was applied to the younger boy; even if the appellant perceived danger in respect of the older boy, the force used was excessive; no real risk the trial outcome was affected and therefore no miscarriage of justice; appeal dismissed.
11 Apr 2022

R v HAUSIA [2022] NZHC 752

Citation

[2022] NZHC 752
Court

High Court

Court fixed a 10 year starting point for attempted murder given band three aggravating features, uplifted by 21 months to reflect prior injuring and additional offences (total starting point 11 years 9 months), then applied combined mitigation of 45% (25% guilty plea, 5% cultural dislocation, 5% remorse, 10% prior good character) producing a final global sentence of six years and six months imprisonment; no minimum period under s86 was imposed and a protection order issued for the principal victim.
3 Nov 2021

MANUKAU v R [2021] NZCA 681

Citation

MANUKAU v R [2021] NZCA 681
Court

Court of Appeal

The appeals were dismissed because the appellants failed to file grounds of appeal as directed and failed to appear, justifying dismissal for non-prosecution.
9 Jul 2021

R v SIO [2021] NZHC 1709

Citation

[2021] NZHC 1709
Court

High Court

Defendant convicted of murder sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years. The judge fixed a notional starting point of 18 years 3 months based on vulnerability of the five-year-old victim, gross breach of trust, duration and brutality of abuse and concealment; allowances for a guilty plea and disadvantaged background could reduce the notional sentence by up to three years but not below the statutory floor of 17 years, and the court concluded a 17-year MPI was not manifestly unjust.
25 Aug 2020

GARDNER v NEW ZEALAND POLICE [2020] NZHC 2169

Citation

[2020] NZHC 2169
Court

High Court

Appeal allowed because the end sentence imposed was above the available range due to cumulative uplifts applied without adequate consideration of totality (and an arithmetical error); substituted sentence of one year nine months imprisonment was ordered, no additional discount for remorse was given, and the short period on EM bail did not warrant further reduction.
4 Nov 2019

E D v THE QUEEN [2019] NZHC 2857

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2857
Court

High Court

The Court concluded the offending was in the low to moderate range but the real and appreciable risk that a conviction would seriously impair the appellant's employment prospects and ability to travel to Australia rendered those consequences out of all proportion to the gravity of the offence; accordingly discretion to discharge without conviction was exercised and the conviction was quashed; suppression of appellant's name ordered to protect the child.
18 Oct 2019

R v HAEREWA [2019] NZHC 2663

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2663
Court

High Court

Impose a finite determinate sentence of 9 years imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 6 years; decline to impose preventive detention because the Court was not satisfied under s87(2)(c) that the defendant is likely to commit a qualifying sexual or violent offence if released at the sentence expiry date.
28 Aug 2019

PEREIRA v POLICE [2019] NZHC 2130

Citation

[2019] NZHC 2130
Court

High Court

The appellant's assault was of low-to-moderate gravity but the statutory and practical consequences of conviction, while moderately serious, were not out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending given the availability and historical success rate of exemptions under the Children's Act and the need to preserve the statutory protection scheme; therefore the court must decline to discharge and the appeal is dismissed.
14 Nov 2018

R v HARRIS [2018] NZHC 2984

Citation

[2018] NZHC 2984
Court

High Court

The Court declined to impose preventive detention because the offending, though harmful and part of a pattern, was not at the most serious end, the offender retained unmet rehabilitative potential and was not a 'lost cause', and preventive detention would be disproportionate compared with a lengthy finite term; accordingly the Court imposed a finite sentence calculated by starting at 20 months, uplifting 12 months for prior convictions and 16 months for public protection to produce 48 months, applying a 25% guilty plea discount to result in a three year determinate sentence, with a minimum pe…