By PATRICK GOWER
The man who murdered Constable Murray Stretch by stomping on his face has had his minimum jail term cut by two years.
Constable Stretch's sister, Winsome Stretch, said the family were devastated by the release of a Court of Appeal judgment yesterday that reduced Carlos Namana's non-parole period from 18 years to 16.
"It was 18 months yesterday since Murray was murdered," she told the Herald last night.
"There's been just so much sorrow and grief ...
"And the last act of this whole sorry saga has been of benefit to the criminal."
The court said Namana's surrender to the police - the day after the killing in Mangakino - and his early guilty plea should have been taken into account at sentencing.
Namana attacked 38-year-old Constable Stretch in May last year when the officer was called to a burglary. Namana bashed him and then kicked him to death. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Court of Appeal's judgment said the murder had been particularly brutal. Namana had stomped on Constable Stretch's upturned face with the intention of killing him.
The guilty plea had spared Constable Stretch's family the harrowing experience of a trial and saved police, the justice system and the community the pressure and expense of one.
But the judges said the sentence reduction should not be substantial.
"Although Mr Namana pleaded guilty, he has not demonstrated any real remorse or contrition," the judgment read.
Ms Stretch said the community should feel "total outrage" at the decision, which came after Friday night's brutal attack on Constable Shane Lacey in Twizel.
"At the same time as yet another police person has been beaten, the courts decide that maybe it's not so bad after all," she said.
She was "disturbed" that the judgment mentioned the callousness of the attack and that Namana had exhibited an animosity towards police and little remorse for the killing.
"And, then, because he pleaded guilty he gets two years taken off. That's so inconsistent.
"The justice process has been so slow and painful and instead of ending on a positive note it has ended as it started - absolutely terrible."
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