R v Thompson - [2026] NZHC 2943

Audrey Thompson sentenced to life imprisonment with a 10-year minimum period of imprisonment for the murder of friend’s partner by stabbing him twice in the neck with a broken bottle. The Court considered a minimum period of imprisonment of 10 years, the statutory minimum, was appropriate having regard to the aggravating factors present (deliberate creation of a lethal weapon out of a nearby beer bottle; the use of that lethal weapon twice; and the fact the strike was to the deceased’s neck, a very vulnerable part of the human body); comparable decisions; and allowances given for Ms Thompson’s prior good character, her PTSD and background trauma, and the time she had spent on EM bail.