A Hamilton man has been sentenced to four and a-half years in jail for manslaughter after a student sustained fatal injuries in an altercation over illegal rubbish dumping.
William Ashton Thompson, 63, was sentenced in the High Court at Hamilton this morning by Justice Murray Gilbert who said Thompson had not fully accepted responsibility for the death of 41-year-old Waikato University student Warren Deane.
Mr Deane died in an incident after spotting Thompson dumping rubbish on vacant land opposite his home in Dey St, Hamilton on October 6 last year.
Thompson drove off when Mr Deane threatened to call the police but Mr Deane got on to the bonnet.
The car travelled 440m before Mr Deane rolled off on Naylor St, landing heavily on his face.
He died in hospital five days later from a traumatic brain injury.
- Natalie Akoorie of the New Zealand Herald
