Bus driver Mikaele Ah Fook was charged with the manslaughter of Peter Te Kira at a South Auckland bus stop. Photo / Jason Dorday
An Auckland bus driver who lost his temper at a belligerent fare dodger, lunging at him with a single punch that turned out to be fatal, has been sentenced to home detention after a “remarkable” act of forgiveness.
Victim Mark Te Kira’s behaviour on the bus that day does not define him, Te Kira’s daughter indicated today while reading a tearful victim impact statement in which she asked for a non-custodial outcome for her father’s killer.
“Our dad was the laughter in our lives - happy-go-lucky and always there for us,” she said as she stood before Justice Gerard van Bohemen in the High Court at Auckland.
“Now he watches from above, and we believe he would want the same peace and happiness for Mikaele.”
The inspiring level of “forgiveness, generosity of spirit and graciousness” that Te Kira’s family showed towards the defendant was something Justice van Bohemen said he hadn’t seen before. He granted their request.
Court documents state the two men crossed paths for the final time around 1.40pm on April 27 last year, when Ah Fook’s bus arrived at a stop near Great South Rd in Papatoetoe, South Auckland.
Te Kira, 61, had spent the past two hours at a nearby tavern and was three times over the legal limit for alcohol consumption had he been driving.
When Ah Fook’s bus arrived, Te Kira took his seat and ignored the defendant’s repeated demands for him to pay his fare - loudly yelling “no” several times as the minutes passed.
Ah Fook would later tell police he had argued with the passenger on about three other times over unpaid fares.
Te Kira eventually stood up, slammed his hands on the safety rail and exited the rear of the bus after Ah Fook stood up from the driver’s seat. The victim then pulled the finger and, according to Ah Fook’s account, yelled: “F*** off back to your own country”.
That comment was the breaking point, according to the 34-year-old defendant, who immigrated to New Zealand from Samoa more than a decade ago.
He got out of his seat again, jumped out of the bus and threw a punch that caused Te Kira to lose consciousness and fall backwards onto the concrete pavement, resulting in another blow to his head.
“On realising the deceased was unconscious, the defendant pulled the deceased further into the bus shelter and placed him slumped in an upright position up against the seated area,” the agreed summary of facts for the case stated.
“The defendant left the deceased there, returned to his bus and continued his route.”
Te Kira died three days later at Auckland Hospital after having been put in an induced coma. His cause of death was found to be blunt force head injuries.
From the time of his interview with police on the day of Te Kira’s death, Ah Fook admitted wrongdoing and expressed shame for having caused harm to an older man.
His words were later put into action - first with his guilty plea to manslaughter in October, then by participating in a traditional Samoan forgiveness ceremony with the victim’s family at a South Auckland marae in December.
In the moving ceremony, called an ifoga, the defendant and his wife kneeeled underneath a flax mat in shame - prepared to stay there indefinitely as the victim’s family sat nearby. When the family felt ready to forgive, they lifted the mat and helped the couple to their feet, embracing them.
Ah Fook’s parents had travelled from Samoa for the ceremony, as they did again for today’s hearing.
Te Kira’s daughter referred to the ceremony during her victim impact statement today, noting that their forgiveness was already known but wanting to reiterate that they “have no ill intent towards Mikaele”.
That’s not to minimise their own pain, she said, explaining: “No one sees the sleepless nights for a daughter who simply yearns for her dad”.
She added: “Although we do forgive, unfortunately, we can never forget”.
The family not only wished for Ah Fook to go home to his wife and young son, but they also gave him permission to find happiness again.
“We hope that Mikaele can let go of the hurt and shame he feels about what happened,” she said. “Facing what has happened is already enough for both Mikaele and ourselves.”
Ah Fook could have faced up to life imprisonment as he stood in the dock today.
But Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes, referring to the wishes of the victim’s family, agreed with defence lawyer Tua Saseve that home detention would be the best outcome.
Justice Bohemen set a starting point of three and a half years but then allowed substantial reductions for his guilty plea, remorse, his decision to attend counselling even before pleading guilty and for his participation in the forgiveness ceremony.
“By any standard, it was a remarkable process with a remarkable outcome for you and the victim,” he said, telling the victim’s family: “I pay tribute to your courage ... and your forgiveness and generosity of spirit”.
But he also emphasised that Ah Fook’s behaviour needed to be atoned for through the justice system as well.
“There was some provocation. Mr Te Kira was being difficult and offensive, but he was not threatening and your punch was unwarranted,” the judge said, adding that Ah Fook had a responsibility as a bus driver that he did not live up to.
He noted Ah Fook had lost a job that he “loved because it gave you an opportunity to meet people”.
“Your behaviour was not callous, but it was uncaring and wrong,” the judge said.
The courtroom, filled with the families of the victim and the defendant, remained silent after the judge announced his decision.
Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.
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