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R v Anderson

R v Anderson

Case [2025] NZHC 2935 6 October 2025

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND NEW PLYMOUTH REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA NGĀMOTU ROHE

CRI-2024-043-001277

[2025] NZHC 2935

THE KING

v

BASIL THOMAS ANDERSON

Hearing: 6 October 2025

Counsel:

H Bullock and J M Woodcock for Crown

P M Keegan KC and N P Bourke for Defendant

Sentencing:

6 October 2025

SENTENCING NOTES OF RADICH J

Introduction

[1] Basil Anderson, you appear for sentencing today after you pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the death of your father, Basil Anderson Snr.1

Approach to sentencing

[2] The primary purposes for which I am sentencing you today, under the Sentencing Act 2002, are to hold you accountable for the harm that you have caused by your offending; to promote in you a sense of responsibility for, and acknowledgement of, that harm; to denounce your conduct and deter others from

1 Crimes Act 1961, ss 158, 160(2)(a), 171; maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

R v ANDERSON [2025] NZHC 2935 [6 October 2025]

acting similarly; and to assist in your rehabilitation and reintegration into society.2 I must consider the gravity of your offending and the degree of your culpability. Your sentence must be consistent with the sentences imposed in other reasonably similar cases,3 and I should impose the least restrictive sentence that is appropriate in the circumstances.4

[3]To determine the appropriate sentence for you, I must take two steps:

(a)the first step is to calculate a starting point, incorporating adjustments for any aggravating and mitigating factors of your offending; and

(b)the second step is to incorporate all aggravating and mitigating factors that are personal to you.5

[4]The maximum penalty for manslaughter is life imprisonment.

Victims

[5] Before I go on to discuss the sentence in more detail, I acknowledge the victims of your offending. Your father was very close to you. In a pre-sentencing report, you and your father are described as having been the “best of mates”. You lived with, or near to, him for many years. You worked alongside each other – both in paid employment and on a family property project.

[6] Your mother and your sisters – all of whom are children of your mother and your father – will all be deeply upset and affected by your father’s death. Members of your family are here today and others are watching from the Whanganui courthouse.

Offending

[7] I need now to explain the events leading up to your offending and the offending itself.

2      Sentencing Act 2002, s 7.
3      Section 8(a) and (e).
4      Section 8(g).
5      Moses v R [2020] NZCA 296, [2020] 3 NZLR 583 at [46].

[8] In the early hours of Saturday, 24 August 2024, you attacked your father with a knife, causing his death. You inflicted 31 injuries with the knife, four of which were stab wounds. One stab wound was to your father’s abdomen. It injured his aorta, and caused him to bleed to death.

[9] At the time, you were living in a caravan on your father’s property.…

Grounds of appeal

[14] The appellant contends that the primary judge erred in finding that the respondent had discharged the onus of establishing the matters required under the relevant provision.

[15] It was submitted that his Honour failed to give adequate weight to the evidence of the second witness, and that the findings of fact were not reasonably open on the material before the Court.

[16] The respondent, for its part, submits that no error is disclosed, and that the conclusions reached were well within the range of outcomes available to the primary judge.

Consideration

[17] It is convenient to deal first with the question of construction, as the resolution of that issue informs the remaining grounds advanced by the appellant.

[18] For the reasons that follow, we are of the view that the appeal should be allowed in part and the matter remitted for further determination.

Continue reading R v Anderson

Details

AGLC: R v Anderson [2025] NZHC 2935
Case: [2025] NZHC 2935
Decision Date: 6 October 2025

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Basil Anderson was sentenced for manslaughter of his father, Basil Anderson Snr. The court was required to decide the appropriate sentence, considering the aggravating and mitigating factors of the case. The primary purposes of sentencing were to hold Anderson accountable for the harm caused, promote a sense of responsibility, denounce the conduct, deter others from acting similarly, and assist in rehabilitation. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is life imprisonment. The court calculated the starting point for sentencing, considering similarities with other cases and the aggravating and mitigating factors present. The court accepted that Anderson was in a delusional state at the time of the offending due to drug intoxication but rejected the argument that this diminished his culpability. The court imposed a starting point of nine years and six months, reduced by credits for the guilty plea, remorse, and background circumstances. The final sentence imposed was six years' imprisonment.

Anderson's sentence of six years' imprisonment was determined after considering the appropriate starting point, mitigating factors, and the purposes of sentencing. The court found that Anderson's delusional state did not diminish his culpability, as it was a result of his voluntary drug use. The sentence reflects the seriousness of the offending, the impact on the victim's family, and the need to hold Anderson accountable for his actions. The court also considered Anderson's genuine remorse and motivation for rehabilitation.

Orders