17-year sentence for schoolboy who killed Constable Taylor

11.30am

Schoolboy killer Daniel Luff has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for the murder of Detective Constable Duncan Taylor.

The 17-year-old, who wore a green Swandri and blue-checked shirt when he appeared in the High Court at Palmerston North this morning, did not take his eyes off Justice Ron Young during the hour-long sentencing.

Luff pleaded guilty last month to murdering Mr Taylor and attempting to murder his partner Detective Jeanette Park after a shootout near Rongotea, near Palmerston North, on July 5.

Mr Taylor was shot in the chest and Ms Park was shot in the thigh after they followed Luff to a farm house in Taipo Rd, Awahuri, the home of Luff's estranged girlfriend Stephanie Cocker.

Mr Taylor was killed instantly by the single shot to the chest but his wounded partner managed to escape the scene.

What followed was a five-hour stand-off between police and Luff, who had barricaded himself in the house.

Mr Taylor's body lay for several hours where he had been shot, with emergency services unable to reach him due to the continuing stand-off.

Luff was apparently unaware that Stephanie was hiding in the house at the time. Her parents were also in the house.

Luff had been stalking Stephanie, 17, since their relationship broke up. He was armed with a shotgun when he was chased into the Cockers' farmhouse by the two police officers.

In the days immediately after the shooting, Luff told his mother he could think only of his former girlfriend.

The court heard today that on the day of the shooting the two detectives had been at the Cockers' farm warning the family that firearms had been stolen and that Luff may have them.

As they spoke with the Cockers, Luff drove by in his army green land rover. The detectives decided to follow him to warn him against breaching a protection order the Cocker family had taken out against him.

After they flashed their car lights, Luff pulled over but did not get out and left his motor running. As the detectives got out to speak to him, Luff turned around and drove back towards the Cockers' farm, smiling at Ms Park as he went past.

Crown Lawyer Peter Butler had asked the court for a 20-year minimum non-parole sentence, citing the need for "emphatic denunciation of the killing of a police officer".

He said today that although the attack was not premeditated, both police were unarmed and both were shot without warning and there had been persistence on behalf of Luff to get a firearm.

This firearm was used "in the deliberate, callous maintenance of a siege, perpetuated by threats of violence".

As well as the murder and attempted murder charges, Luff had pleaded guilty to an aggravated burglary and the unlawful detention of Stephanie's parents Robert and Christine Cocker at the farmhouse.

He had also admitted shooting at Detective Tony Heathcote during the siege, and a burglary at Long Melford Rd on the day of the shooting.

Luff was sentenced to ten years for the attempted murder of Detective Park, five years for shooting at Detective Heathcote during the siege, seven years for the two charges of kidnapping Robert and Christine, five years for aggravated burglary and two years for burglary. He will serve these sentences concurrently.

- HERALD STAFF, NZPA