Family angry officer's killer could be free in five years

Sergeant Derek Wootton. Photo / Supplied

The family of police officer Derek Wootton struggled today with the news his killer could be a free man in five years time.

Sergeant Wootton was laying road spikes in Titahi Bay, Wellington, last year when Mongrel Mob member Andrew Popo struck him in a stolen car as he fled from police.

"I'm disgusted with the sentence. I guess it's not the right thing to say, but my brother's life is obviously very, very cheap," his younger brother, and fellow officer, Dave Wootton said outside Wellington's High Court today.

Popo, 33, pleaded guilty last month to the manslaughter of 53-year-old Derek Wootton.

He was today sentenced to eight years and nine months jail, with a non-parole period of five years, and was banned from driving for 10 years.

"I'm sorry, I just have no faith in the system," Dave Wootton said afterwards. You just ask yourself `why do you bother?"'

Prior to the sentencing he told the court of being woken at by police at 5am to be told of his brother's "premature and violent death".

"One of the most important people in my life was dead. Killed by a criminal.

"I have to watch my elderly mother ... moved to tears by the mention of Derek's name."

Derek Wootton's elder brother John spoke of his revulsion at the "drug-fuelled culture that spawned the likes of Andrew Popo".

He said his mother was now a broken woman and he could never forgive Popo, who had a chance to walk the streets again, "something which had been taken from Derek forever".

When the sentence was announced, he could not contain his reaction. "Outrageous," he said from the court gallery.

However, having spoken with crown prosecutor Grant Burston after the hearing, he reflected on the sentence.

"There's a lot of initial emotion. I guess it's natural when you hear non-parole periods and things like that, one's never going to think the sentence is long enough.

"I think we have to acknowledge as a family that the police and judicial system have done a great job.

"I mean, they have exacted the most stringent sentence for a (motor vehicle) manslaughter killing.