R v Te Kiri - [2022] NZHC 217

IN THE HIGH COURT OF NEW ZEALAND ROTORUA REGISTRY

I TE KŌTI MATUA O AOTEAROA

TE ROTORUA-NUI-A-KAHUMATAMOMOE ROHE

CRI-2020-063-2105

[2022] NZHC 217

THE QUEEN

v

SHAUN TE KIRI

Hearing: 18 February 2022

Appearances:

A McConachy for Crown

N Tahana and T Afoa for Defendant

Judgment:

18 February 2022

SENTENCING REMARKS OF LANG J

Solicitors:
Crown Solicitor, Rotorua

R v TE KIRI [2022] NZHC 217 [18 February 2022]

[1] Mr Te Kiri you appear for sentence today having pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and participating in an organised criminal group. The kidnapping charge carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment, whilst the charge of participating in an organised criminal group carries a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment.

[2] You pleaded guilty after I gave you a sentence indication on 14 October 2021.1 You will therefore understand how the structure of the bulk of the sentence is composed. I will attach the sentence indication to my sentencing remarks and it is to form part of them.

Background

[3] You pleaded guilty on the basis of an agreed summary of facts. This revealed that you became involved in the activities of a group of persons who decided to kidnap the victim, whom it was believed had stolen methamphetamine from the leader of the group. This resulted in the victim being kidnapped on two separate occasions. On each of these she was severely assaulted.

[4] The Crown accepts that you were not involved in the first incident, and that you were only involved in the early stages of the second incident. This incident occurred on the afternoon of 21 October 2020. On that date, you accompanied two others to a shopping mall to which the victim had been taken on a false pretext. The victim was then made to get into the vehicle in which you were travelling. At this stage you were armed with a knife and a long sword. After the vehicle drove away from the shopping centre, you were a party to a conversation in which it was said that the victim was being held as a hostage and that your associates would obtain money as a result.

[5] A message was then sent to the victim’s father telling him that the group were coming to get money from him. As the vehicle approached the father’s address, you placed a blue bandanna over your face. You then got out of the vehicle and adopted an intimidatory pose as others in the group confronted the victim’s father. You were

1 R v Te Kiri [2021] NZHC 2750.

present as he handed over a few thousand dollars in cash. Your role was therefore to provide support for those who were demanding money from the victim’s father.

[6] You then remained with the group for the balance of the day as they travelled around Rotorua with the victim in the vehicle. At one stage the vehicle stopped at a bar and some of the money was spent there. The victim…

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 Te Kiri

Details

AGLC: R v Te Kiri [2022] NZHC 217
Case: [2022] NZHC 217
Decision Date: 18 February 2022

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Shaun Te Kiri was sentenced in the High Court of New Zealand, Rotorua Registry, on charges of kidnapping and participating in an organised criminal group. The court heard that Te Kiri was part of a group that kidnapped a victim believed to have stolen methamphetamine from the group's leader. Te Kiri was involved in the second kidnapping incident, during which the victim was severely assaulted. Te Kiri pleaded guilty to the charges after a sentence indication was given by the court.

The legal issues before the court were to determine the appropriate starting point for Te Kiri's sentence and to consider any additional mitigating factors. The court found that Te Kiri's culpability was significant due to his involvement in the events of 21 October and the fact that he was armed with two weapons during the kidnapping. The court also considered Te Kiri's difficult upbringing, drug use, and expressions of remorse as mitigating factors.

The court decided that the starting point for Te Kiri's sentence was five years imprisonment. The court did not add an uplift for previous convictions as they were not considered relevant for the present case. The court gave a 20% discount for the guilty pleas, resulting in an indicated sentence of four years imprisonment. After considering additional mitigating factors outlined in section 27 reports and other material, the court reduced the sentence by a further two years and two months, resulting in an effective sentence of two years and ten months imprisonment. The court ordered that the sentences for the kidnapping and organised criminal group charges be served concurrently.

The final orders of the court were that Te Kiri be sentenced to two years and ten months imprisonment for the kidnapping charge and two years imprisonment for participating in an organised criminal group, to be served concurrently.

Orders