R v Komene
[2023] NZHC 2850
•11 October 2023
IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND AUCKLAND REGISTRY
I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA TĀMAKI MAKAURAU ROHE
CRI-2022-092-010505
[2023] NZHC 2850
THE KING v
JACKSON IBANEZ KOMENE
Hearing: 11 October 2023 Appearances:
A Al-Janabi for Crown
R M Mansfield KC and B Gloyn for Defendant
Judgment:
11 October 2023
SENTENCING NOTES OF VENNING J
Solicitors: Meredith Connell, Auckland Counsel: R M Mansfield KC, Auckland
R v KOMENE [2023] NZHC 2850 [11 October 2023]
[1] Jackson Komene you are for sentence having pleaded guilty to the murder of your former partner, Shyanne Hauwai. On 30 December 2022 you choked and killed her.
[2] You will be sentenced to life imprisonment for her murder. The principal issue for the Court this morning is what the minimum non-parole period should be. I start with the facts.
[3] At the time you killed Ms Hauwai you and she were both 24 years old. You had been in an on-and-off relationship with her since 2015 when you were both approximately 17 years old. You have three young children together, who have been in the care of other family members since 2020.
[4] In December 2022 you were living with other family members at Mangere Bridge. Ms Hauwai lived in Christchurch and was in a new relationship.
[5] On the evening of Christmas Day she travelled from Christchurch to Auckland in order to see her children. While she was in Auckland and up until her death she stayed with you and your family at the Mangere Bridge address. You got on well and were again close.
[6] On the morning of 30 December 2022 you were both at home, in your family’s home. Shortly after 8.30 am you drove some family members to Middlemore Hospital to attend a scheduled appointment. You then returned to your home address at about
9.00 am and went upstairs to the bathroom with Ms Hauwai to shower. You were playing music which could be heard from downstairs. While you were together in the bathroom something happened. You became angry with her and you assaulted her. You first punched her in the head and then choked her to the point of death. The post- mortem examination confirmed the direct cause of her death was neck compression. There were abrasions around her neck area and on her inside neck muscles as well as considerable bruising. There was also bleeding on her brain consistent with the infliction of blunt force trauma from a heavy punch.
[7] After attempting to clean up the blood in the bathroom you picked her up and carried her downstairs and took her to your car. On the way you were seen by your sisters at the address. When they asked what happened, you replied “stupid idiot, she slipped.” You said you were taking Ms Hauwai to the hospital. Initially you placed her in the front seat but when you realised she was dead you moved her to the boot of the car before leaving.
[8] You then drove to Middlemore Hospital to collect your family members. They were unaware that she was inside the boot. You then drove home arriving back there about 11.00 am. You went upstairs and retrieved a bag of clothing. You said it was for Ms Hauwai who wanted them. You left the address again, and went to see another sister.
[9] After you had left one of your sisters spoke to your mother about what they had seen. They became concerned at the situation. Shortly after 11.00 am you arrived at your other sister’s address and picked her up. She was obviously unaware that Ms Hauwai was in the boot. During the drive she observed you appeared to be distressed and were crying quietly to yourself. You said you had “fucked up” and that you had hurt Shyanne. You said you wanted to drive around.
[10] Meanwhile back at your family home one of your sisters noticed blood in the bathroom and alerted the rest of the family. Your mother then called you and expressed her concern and the family’s concern for Ms Hauwai. She said the Police would be called if Ms Hauwai did not contact them. When the sister who was with you in the car asked about her you said she was at a funeral and did not know where it was taking place.
[11] You drove around but at about 1.00 pm you parked at the Mitre 10 Megastore in Manukau. You purchased a pair of scissors and went to the boot and cut off some of Ms Hauwai’s hair. Your sister asked what you were doing. You began crying again and said “I killed her, she’s in the boot”. Your sister encouraged you to turn yourself into the Police. You drove to the Manukau Police Station to do that. While driving there your sister called the Police, she put the phone on speaker mode and you said “I’m sorry, she’s dead”.
[12] You told the Police when you arrived at the station, “I think I killed someone” and “the body is in my car”. You co-operated fully with the Police and made a full confession of your offending. You said you “saw red” as you were both getting undressed for the shower and were not sure what caused you to enter that state. Your punch made her briefly unconscious and when she came to she started screaming. You choked her to stop the screaming. You said that you were initially going to drop her off at the hospital but became scared and put her in the boot. You thought she was breathing at the end of the assault but later, after checking her breathing you knew she was dead.
[13] In fixing your sentence today I have regard to the relevant purposes and principles of the Sentencing Act 2002. The particularly relevant purposes are to hold you accountable for killing Ms Hauwai and for the harm done to the community by such violent offending, and to promote in you a sense of responsibility for and acknowledgement of the harm caused by your actions. To the extent possible the sentence should also provide for the interests of the family of the victim, and, importantly in cases such as this, namely the killing of another person, the sentence should denounce and deter such violent conduct. The Court also has to consider the need to protect the community, given your apparent propensity for violence in a domestic setting.
[14] You have heard from the victim impact report read by Ms Johnson today the effect your offending has had on the family of the victim and that it continues to have. I hope that hearing that gives you some insight into the consequences of your actions on other people, particularly family members.
[15] The particularly relevant principles are the gravity of the offending, including your culpability and the seriousness of the offence itself. Murder of course is the most serious of crimes.
[16] I have regard to your personal circumstances as noted. You were 24 years old when you committed this offence. You are the third child of nine. The probation officer who prepared your pre-sentence report notes you spoke highly of your parents and siblings, a number of whom have been successful and have responsible jobs.
Unfortunately you started running away from home and living on the streets from an early age. You accept that the issues you have had with the law in the past were not as a result of your upbringing. There is a suggestion in the s 27 report there may be another underlying reason for your dislocation from your family, although as Ms Al- Janabi has observed, you appear to have had issues with violence and aggression prior to that incident.
[17] You describe your relationship with the deceased as toxic. It appears neither of you was prepared for the responsibilities of parenthood. You told the probation officer you were under the influence of methamphetamine when you committed the offending. This case provides yet another example of the destructive nature of that drug.
[18] The Crown and Mr Mansfield KC suggest your actions show a degree of remorse. I have to say the pre-sentence report does not fully support that. While you told the probation officer you were really sorry for what you had done, that you would not be able to forgive yourself and you took full responsibility, you did seem in a way to seek to blame the deceased for reintroducing you to drugs around the time of the incident. However, I accept your letter to the Court and your co-operation with Police confirm your acceptance of responsibility and you are entitled to some credit for remorse.
[19] I turn to consider the minimum period of imprisonment (MPI). The Crown concede that s 104 is not engaged. I agree. However, there are a number of features of your killing of Ms Hauwai in this case which support the imposition of a minimum period of more than 10 years in order to meet the purposes set out in s 103 of the Sentencing Act 2002.
[20] First there is your previous history of violence in a domestic context. In November 2021 you were convicted of four assaults on a person in a family relationship. Of concern is that you were subject to the relevant release conditions for that sentence at the time you killed Ms Hauwai. The release conditions included not to offer violence and not to consume drugs. You breached both. Further, you have other convictions for intentional damage in relation to family violence, assaulting with
intent to injure, impeding breathing in the past and strangulation, contravening a protection order on two occasions and speaking threateningly, other common assaults, and other offences of violence. The two offences of contravening a protection order and the offence of speaking threateningly relate to the victim in this case.
[21] I also have regard to the cases referred to by counsel.1 As an example, in R v Poihipi, Mr Poihipi killed his partner, in what the Judge described as a sustained and frenetic attack. The victim was vulnerable.2 In that case the Judge took a starting point of 12 years for the MPI. In Roper,3 the Judge considered a number of aggravating circumstances such as a history of abuse between the parties, the breach of a protection order, attempts to escape detention, and theft. The Judge took a 14½ year MPI which was described on appeal as being within the range available. In Krishna a MPI of 15 years was imposed.4 I also have regard to the other cases counsel referred to.5
[22] There is no doubt in this case that the deceased was vulnerable to you on that day. In this case, having regard to the offending, and the surrounding circumstances, and your past history of violence, particularly in a domestic setting, a MPI of 13½ years for a start would be appropriate. In terms of mitigating factors the principal mitigating factor of course is your early guilty plea. I allow two years for that. While I have regard to the other matters set out in your s 27 report and the suggestion of remorse, there can only be a limited reduction for personal circumstances in your case. Overall I allow a reduction of two years, six months which leads to a final MPI of 11 years.
1 R v Jiang [2019] NZHC 3442; and R v Callaghan [2012] NZHC 596.
2 R v Pohipi [2019] NZHC 3048.
3 Roper v R [2015] NZCA 89.
4 R v Krishna [2023] NZHC 1205.
5 Rickus v R [2021] NZCA 435; R v Harrison [2016] NZCA 381, [2016] 3 NZLR 602; Davis v R [2019] NZCA 40, [2019] 3 NZLR 43; R v Smail [2007] 1 NZLR 411 (CA); R v Smith [2021] NZCA 318; Solicitor-General v Hutchison [2018] NZCA 162; R v Vea [2019] NZHC 1587; R v Slade [2005] 2 NZLR 526 (CA); R v Gottermeyer [2014] NZCA 205; R v Tarrant [2020] NZHC 2192 [2020] 3 NZLR 15; R v Roper [2013] NZHC 1687; Hessell v R [2010] NZSC 135, [2011] 1 NZLR 607; Frost v R [2023] NZCA 294; Hanara v R [2022] NZCA 608; Berkland v R [2022] NZSC 143; Zhang v R [2019] NZCA 507, [2019] 3 NZLR 648; Moses v R [2020] NZCA 296, [2020] 3 NZLR 583; R v Hohua [2021] NZHC 1242; Hohua v R [2022] NZCA 550; Orchard v R [2019] NZCA 529, [2020] 2 NZLR 37; Te Hau v R [2013] NZCA 431; R v TN [2019] NZHC 764; R v D [2016] NZHC 333.
[23] Mr Komene, please stand. For the murder of Shyanne Hauwai, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. You are to serve a minimum period of imprisonment of 11 years. Stand down.
Venning J
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