R v McLeod - [2025] NZHC 2290

Sentencing for murder under ss 167 and 172 of the Crimes Act 1961. Defendant had entered a property at night and stabbed the victim with a knife while he was sleeping, with an apparent motive of jealousy. 

Defendant sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years due to the operation of s 104 of the Sentencing Act 2002. Two aggravating factors under s 104(1A) were engaged: unlawful entry into a dwelling place and the victim's unconscious state making him "particularly vulnerable". There was no manifest injustice in a minimum period of imprisonment of 17 years.