In her victim impact statement read yesterday in the Timaru High Court sentencing of Daniel Ethan Smith (17), Jenny Brokenshire described driving past Exe St and seeing the police cordon around where her son was killed, thinking "something big is happening in boring Oamaru".
"Little did I know my son was only metres away lying on the footpath," she said.
Daniel Ethan Smith (17) was yesterday sentenced in the High Court at Timaru to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years for murdering William Lewis (16) on April 1 in Exe St, Oamaru.
Yesterday his mother, Jenny Brokenshire, and father, Peter Lewis, were in court to tell how his killing had affected their families and to hear the sentence.
Peter Lewis, in his victim impact statement, described Smith as a "killer, murderer and coward, labels any man will never want to have".
Smith had stabbed his son three times in the back while he was trying to get away - actions of a true coward.
Peter Lewis was constantly haunted, his son suffering the terror, anger, pain and knowledge he was going to die, and not being there to help, comfort or say the things he had never said to him.
"Whatever the sentence, it will never be enough for me. My boy lies cold, alone and will never rest in peace because he was murdered by a coward," Peter Lewis said.
After sentencing, the two parents said the important thing was Smith's conviction for murder.
Yesterday's sentence of 10 years' non-parole was the statutory minimum.
However, the murder conviction also meant Smith would be on parole for the rest of his life.
Peter Lewis said Smith had been "labelled a murderer" for the rest of his life - a life sentence no matter when he got out of jail.
In his victim impact statement, Peter Lewis said Smith had shown no remorse.
In court, Smith's counsel, Bernadette Farnan, read out the first page of a letter of apology Smith had written for the family, but it had not been sent because it was before he stood trial.
Peter Lewis said he had been sent an email about the apology but had deleted it without reading it. Yesterday, he blocked his ears while part of the apology was read out in court.
He did not want any apology from Smith.
Mrs Brokenshire said the major point for the family was Smith had been convicted of murder and would be on life parole, which meant he could not get out of prison and carry on as he had before.
"The time he spends in jail will not change that outcome," she said.
She described her son as "a typical teenager" who was loved, thought to be perfect but was "always pushing boundaries".
In her victim impact statement, she told the court her son had planned his life out on the back of an old schoolbook and was working hard to achieve his goals, which would now never happen.
