R v Hone

Martin Hone was sentenced by Venning J in the Rotorua Registry of the High Court of New Zealand for two charges of murder, two of threatening to kill, and one of manufacturing methamphetamine. Hone had pleaded guilty to the charges. The court declined a request for an adjournment to prepare a cultural report, noting that the pre-sentence report and psychiatric assessment provided sufficient information. Hone's attendance in court was ordered despite his medical conditions, as sentencing for serious offences such as homicide should occur in person. The court found Hone's actions to be driven by paranoia regarding the yield of a methamphetamine manufacturing operation. Hone and his associates assaulted and killed Raymond and James Fleet over suspicions that some of the drug had been stolen. The court considered the three strikes law, which mandates life imprisonment without parole for a second strike offence unless it would be manifestly unjust. The court found that it would be manifestly unjust to sentence Hone to life without parole due to his PTSD diagnosis, the fact that this was a second-stage murder, and his guilty plea. The court imposed a minimum non-parole period of 20 years for each murder charge, seven years concurrent for methamphetamine manufacturing, and two years concurrent for each charge of threatening to kill.