R v Wakefield

The defendant, William Martin Wakefield, was convicted of the murder of his stepson, Lincoln, who died as a result of internal injuries to the brain caused by violent shaking. The case was heard in the High Court of New Zealand, Wellington Registry. Wakefield pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder, which required the Crown to prove that Wakefield appreciated the risk of killing Lincoln by shaking him and proceeded to do so recklessly. The jury accepted the Crown's case on this point, and Wakefield was convicted of murder. The primary legal issue was determining the appropriate minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) for the murder conviction, given the mandatory life imprisonment sentence and the statutory presumption under Section 104 of the Sentencing Act 2002 that an MPI of 17 years applies where the victim is particularly vulnerable. The Crown argued for 17 years, while the defence argued for 13 years, contending that 17 years would be manifestly unjust. The judge considered the extreme vulnerability of the victim, the breach of trust, and the defendant's immediate and genuine remorse. After a detailed analysis, the judge concluded that while the case was very serious, the difference between 17 years and the calculated MPI of 14 years and nine months would be manifestly unjust. Therefore, the judge imposed an MPI of 14 years and nine months, alongside a concurrent three-year sentence for wounding with reckless disregard.