R v Langley

[2014] NZHC 3230

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND HAMILTON REGISTRY

CRI-2014-019-611 [2014] NZHC 3230

THE QUEEN

v

PAORA CRAIG LANGLEY

Charge:

Plea:

Murder

Not Guilty

Counsel:

RG Douch for Crown
ST Clark for Prisoner

Sentenced:

16 December 2014

SENTENCING NOTES OF BREWER J

Solicitors/Counsel:               Almao Douch (Hamilton) for Crown

EP Leary and ST Clark (Auckland) for Defendant

R v LANGLEY [2014] NZHC 3230 [16 December 2014]

Introduction

[1]      Mr Langley, you appear for sentence today having been found guilty by a jury of murdering Mr Tiatia.  I know from the pre-sentence report that you still say you did not mean it and that it was an accident.  But the jury found otherwise.

[2]      I acknowledge the presence of everyone here today, particularly the whanau of Mr Tiatia.  I have listened to three of the victim impact statements being read and I have read the other statements on the file.  They speak powerfully of the loss that the victims have suffered and the ongoing effects on their lives of that loss.  But none of them speak of hatred or revenge, and I respect them for that.  And I particularly respect Mr Tilley Tiatia for his willingness to take part in the restorative justice meeting.

[3]      I want everyone here to understand that I know that nothing I can do today will make up for the loss of Mr Tiatia.  And that is not what sentencing is about anyway.   My job, Mr Langley, is to sentence you as the law requires.   Not to compensate for what you have done, nor to take revenge on you, but to do justice in the way the law requires.

Facts

[4]      Mr Langley, it is necessary for me to tell you the facts on which I will base my sentence.  The jury just gives its verdict.  It does not give reasons.  So, as the trial Judge, I have to decide the proper basis for sentencing you in accordance with the verdict.

[5]      First, it is obvious that you and Mr Tiatia did not get on well.  There was no active hostility or violence between you, but he would belittle you and then there was the theft of the birthday money.  On the day of the murder, Mr Tiatia again got at you.  He called you a nark and told you that you would never get the money back. You had been talking about adopting the neighbour’s dog and he scoffed at you for that.

[6]      Mr Langley, you got angry.  You had had enough.  You went upstairs and you got the knife.  Your partner tried to talk you out of it but you headed downstairs with the knife intending at least to confront Mr Tiatia.  You found him in the lounge.  He might or might not have had time to pick up the vacuum cleaner pipe but he certainly did not have time to use it.  The jury rejected self-defence and on the evidence was right to do so.

[7]      You stabbed Mr Tiatia twice.  Each was a deep wound.  One was fatal.  Both were to the chest area.  I do not find that in stabbing Mr Tiatia you intended to kill him.  As you said later to your partner when you telephoned her, you were just mad. So, I find that when you stabbed Mr Tiatia, not once but twice, you intended to hurt him badly, and you knew as you stabbed that you might very well kill him, but you stabbed anyway.  Mr Langley, what I am saying is that I do not sentence you on the basis that you went downstairs with the knife intending to kill Mr Tiatia or that that was what you meant to do when you stabbed him.  Instead, I find that you were so angry that you deliberately stabbed Mr Tiatia intending to cause him serious harm, harm which you knew might very well kill him, and you went ahead anyway.  The result was that you did kill Mr Tiatia, and that is why I must now sentence you for murder.

Discussion

[8]      The  sentence  for  murder  is  almost  always  life  imprisonment.     Life imprisonment means just what it says.  A person sentenced to life imprisonment will spend the rest of his life in prison unless, at some stage, he can persuade the Parole Board that he should be let out of prison on parole.  But if he does get parole, he is still subject to the life imprisonment sentence and if he commits another offence he will be taken back to prison to keep serving the sentence and he will stay in prison unless he can again convince the Parole Board that he should be given another chance.

[9]      When a person is sentenced to life imprisonment, the Judge also has  to specify a minimum term of imprisonment.  The minimum term of imprisonment is not the sentence the person must serve.  It is the time that he must wait before he is

entitled to apply for parole.  It is entirely up to the Parole Board to decide whether, at the end of the minimum term of imprisonment, it is safe to give parole.

[10]     As you have heard your lawyer say, in your case he thinks it would be wrong for me to sentence you to life imprisonment.  However, the law says that a person convicted of murder must be sentenced to life imprisonment unless, given the circumstances of the offence and the offender, it would be manifestly unjust to do so.

[11]     In your case, your lawyer focuses on your youth.  You were only 19 years old and it is becoming increasingly accepted that young men of that age are risk-takers whose brains are not fully developed to allow them to foresee the consequences of their actions.  Your lawyer also points to the provocation Mr Tiatia gave you, both prior to the day of the murder and on the day itself.

[12]     Your lawyer tells me that there is no need to protect the public from you. You do not have a history of violent offending, only a short list of dishonesty offending. Because of your age and the fact that you have never before been in prison, your lawyer says that life imprisonment would be crushing for you.

[13]     Mr Langley, I have listened carefully to what your lawyer has said to me, but I really have no choice other than to impose a sentence of life imprisonment.  I could point to the fact that you still deny the offence and the fact that you committed it having refused to listen to your partner’s pleas to stay upstairs with her.   I could point to the fact that after you stabbed Mr Tiatia you made no effort to help him but just left straight away.  But I do not need to.  The law sets a very high barrier when it comes to sentencing for murder to any sentence other than life imprisonment.  You are a young man who got angry, went and got a knife, took it to where your victim was and inflicted two deep stab wounds.  If the circumstances of that offence and your circumstances made manifestly unjust a sentence of life imprisonment, then an awful lot of sentences for murder would meet the category.

[14]     I now have to consider the minimum period of imprisonment. Again, the law gives me very little choice.  The law says that the minimum term of imprisonment may not be less than 10 years, but it can be longer.  In your case, the Crown submits

that a minimum term of imprisonment of 11 or 12 years is justified.  However, this is where I can take into account your age and lack of previous convictions.  I will stay with the 10 years minimum term of imprisonment.  It will still be up to you to persuade the Parole Board that once that period has passed you should be released on parole.

Sentence

[15]     Mr Langley, on the charge of murder, I sentence you to life imprisonment with a minimum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

[16]     You may stand down.

Brewer J