The 15-year-old, who was convicted of the manslaughter of Enere ‘‘JJ’’ McLaren-Taana, 16, following a jury trial last year, has had his three-year and three-month sentence of imprisonment reduced to two years and seven months following the Court of Appeal’s judgement released yesterday.
Enere’s father John McLaren said he was ‘‘totally disappointed’’ in the entire process and described the original penalty as ‘‘a slap on the hand’’.
The Court of Appeal refused to allow a discharge without conviction, an application which was earlier rejected by the High Court.
The argument centred on the possible deportation of the defendant — who has permanent name suppression — and the significant risk of family members facing the same fate.
Mr McLaren said he would do everything in his power to push for the teen to be returned to his homeland.
‘‘My expectations are: Jail, bus, airport,’’ he said. ‘‘I won’t accept anything less.’’
The defendant, who was 13 at the time, was planning to board a bus on May 23, 2024, when he walked past Trinity Catholic College pupil Enere.
The victim made a comment about the younger teen’s clothing which resulted in the boy retracing his steps and Enere then closing the distance between them.
CCTV played at trial showed a brief stand-off between the boys during which the defendant reached into a shoulder bag and brandished a large kitchen knife.
Enere retreated into Great King St, aiming a roundhouse kick as the other boy pursued, slashing with the blade.
After missing with one blow, the defendant struck with the second, severing a major vein.
At sentencing in the High Court at Dunedin in July last year, Justice Rob Osborne rejected the suggestion of excessive self-defence, calling it ‘‘an aggressive attack with a weapon against someone whose means of defence were limited in the extreme’’.
The Court of Appeal’s Justices Thomas, Harland and Cull, however, disagreed.
They said Justice Osborne’s assessment that the defendant could have withdrawn from what was a potential fist fight overlooked the evidence about the younger teen’s psychiatric state.
At trial, the court heard the defendant had been diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD — the latter coming as a result of being attacked by a group in a Dunedin park just months before the stabbing.
‘‘There is no question that there was an aggressive attack by [the defendant] with a weapon against an unarmed person. But [he] was not an offender intending to present and use a knife from the outset to inflict violence,’’ the appeal judges said.
‘‘The element of self-protection, while misguided and concerning, was in our view clearly present.’’
Mr McLaren was staggered by the characterisation.
‘‘[The defendant] was 15-20 metres away from a police station,’’ he said.
‘‘He chose to go and just take [the knife] out ... JJ backed off, he went forward. Where is self-defence in that?’’
At the time of sentencing, the defendant held a temporary visa, which has since lapsed, and family members’ applications for residency have been declined.
Immigration New Zealand has delayed its final decision, but it means the teenager is now liable for deportation, whether or not he is convicted.
Any reprieve, the judgement said, would hinge on an appeal on humanitarian grounds or ‘‘some sort of discretionary intervention’’.
‘‘Overall, we accept that deportation of [the defendant], if it occurs, will have a very significant effect on [him] and [his] family,’’ the Court of Appeal said.
‘‘We consider a discharge without conviction for this manslaughter offending would insufficiently respond to the seriousness of [the] offending ... It involved use of a weapon against an unarmed person.’’
Mr McLaren said the country’s justice system needed ‘‘fixing’’, but he was not simply advocating for longer prison terms.
‘‘You’ve got to come up with something better. Jail is not the answer. Getting the family right at home has to be the answer,’’ the father of six said.
‘‘I’m totally disappointed in yesterday’s outcome. Totally disappointed in the whole f...... trial process and the sentence and everything ... I’ve just got to try and pick up the pieces and carry on with the kids that I’ve got. Do our best.’’
The defendant will see the Parole Board next month.
