Johnny Joachim stopped his partner from seeking medical assistance for his stepson who died after inhaling blood into his lungs . Photo / Tim Cuff
A young boy suffered a lingering death over eight days after being beaten by his stepfather, a court heard today.
Johnny Joachim was today sentenced at the High Court in Nelson to life imprisonment with a minimum parole period of 18 years for the murder of seven-year-old Duwayne
Pailegutu.
In sentencing, Justice Dobson outlined a brutal beating where the boy was thrown against a wall, struck with a cricket wicket, then repeatedly kicked, eight days before he eventually died.
Joachim repeatedly stopped the boy's mother from seeking medical assistance, opting instead to treat him himself, further aggravating severe injuries.
The seven-year-old died of slow asphyxiation by inhaling blood into his lungs.
- NEWSTALK ZB
