R v Stanaway - [2026] NZHC 173

The offender pleaded guilty to one charge of murder and three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The offending occurred after a period of tension with the victim group. This group arrived at the offender's home and after a heated exchange the offender fired four shots at that group. Two victims were struck in the face, two victims were struck in the chest. One chest wound was fatal. The offending was a disproportionate effort to defend a perceived attack. The offender was 19 when the offending occurred. The offender's difficult personal background had distorted his perception of threat and impaired his emotional regulation. Applying Dickey v R, the Court found it would be manifestly unjust to impose a sentence of life imprisonment. A starting point of 19 years imprisonment for murder was increased to 23 years for the other charges. Discounts applied were: 20 per cent for youth, 15 per cent for guilty plea, and 10 per cent for personal background. One year uplift for relevant prior convictions applied. Adopting the Dickey approach the Court held 16 years imprisonment was appropriate.

HELD: For murder, the offender was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of eight years. On each of the remaining charges, the offender was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Those sentences were to be served concurrently.