Clarke v Kiwirail Limited

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND WHANGANUI REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA WHANGANUI ROHE

CRI 2014-083-957

[2019] NZHC 3454

THE QUEEN

v

DAVID OWEN LYTTLE

Counsel:	M M Wilkinson-Smith and C A Middleton for Crown C W J Stevenson and E A Hall for Mr Lyttle
Date:	19 December 2019

SENTENCING NOTES OF MALLON J

Introduction

[1]                 David Lyttle, you appear for sentencing, having been convicted following a jury trial of murdering Bretton Hall.

Circumstances of offending

[2]                 You maintain you did not kill Mr Hall but you are to be sentenced in accordance with the jury’s verdict and the facts established at trial in light of that verdict.

[3]                 You had known Mr Hall for many years. You were close friends and he was the best man at your wedding. The events that gave rise to you killing your friend date back to late 2010 and into 2011.

R v LYTTLE [2019] NZHC 3454 [19 December 2019]

[4]                 At this time Mr Hall, who had spent some time in prison for drug offending, was on parole. He was living at his campsite, comprising a caravan and two sheds, on a property at Pitangi that he jointly owned with another man.

[5]                 The Pitangi property is rural and remote. It comprises many steep ridges and gullies and is largely covered by vegetation. It is accessed via the Pitangi Track which runs off the Whanganui River Road, about a 45 minute drive north of Whanganui. Access up the Pitangi Track is generally by four-wheel drive. At the top of the track is a flatter piece of grassed land where Mr Hall’s campsite was.

[6]                 You were building a house for Mr Hall on this site. Mr Hall loved his piece of land and knew how to look after himself in this wild but beautiful setting. He was excited about and focussed on getting his house built.

[7]                 It is fair to say that the agreement you had with Mr Hall for the build of the house was a good one for him. He paid you cash to purchase the building materials and you were to be paid for your labour once the house was at the lock up stage. The overall price for materials and your labour to that stage was $70,000. You were also to be paid for the petrol for the drive from your home in Halcombe to Pitangi.

[8]                 Progress with the build was much slower than Mr Hall anticipated for a range of reasons. You had a shoulder injury which limited your ability to do heavy work and you were incapacitated for period when you had surgery for that injury. Some of the issues with progress however, such as the title and plan issues, were not of your making but were a source of frustration for Mr Hall. Eventually the build got underway, but then Mr Hall became concerned that you were not using the money he gave you to buy building materials and,…