Connor Boyd manslaughter: Convict loses another name suppression bid, but identity still secret

A young manslaughter convict who has twice lost name suppression bids in the High Court at Auckland is hoping again to find relief from the Court of Appeal.

The woman, 20, was found guilty by a jury alongside her former boyfriend in October of causing 18-year-old Connor Boyd’s death outside an Auckland Central nightclub in April 2022. The pair are set to be sentenced in February.

In a newly released decision by Justice Ian Gault, who oversaw the trial, the woman’s request for continuing suppression has been denied. However, the judge allowed her identity to remain secret for the time being pending an appeal, which her lawyers have indicated is likely.

“I accept that [the defendant] is still young and that a young person is likely to suffer a greater degree of hardship than an adult because they lack the requisite maturity to deal with the attendant publicity,” Justice Gaul noted in his 18-page decision. “I also accept that, compared with publication in the mainstream media, the potential hardship caused by publication on social media is of a quite different magnitude.”

But in other cases in which the Court of Appeal has granted permanent suppression for young people, there have been factors other than age alone that helped the court decide they would suffer “extreme hardship” if their names were to be published, Gault noted.

“No such factors have been suggested here,” he said.

Boyd died after he fell from the side of a Toyota Hilux on Customs St, outside a nightclub where he and both defendants had spent the early morning hours. In the course of the violent tumble, which was filmed by CCTV and repeatedly played for jurors, Boyd was run over by the same vehicle and left on the pavement as it drove away. He suffered an unsurvivable head injury.

The male defendant was behind the wheel of the ute and the female defendant was in the back seat when they allegedly both grabbed Boyd and started to drive off. The female defendant denied having touched Boyd as the car was moving but jurors seemed to disagree.

Read More

• Connor Boyd death: Woman found guilty of manslaugher ...
• Connor Boyd death: Young Auckland couple found guilty ...
• Connor Boyd death: Both defendants accused of 18-year-old’s ...
• Pedestrian killed: Teens plead not guilty to manslaughter ...
• Connor Boyd death: 18yo accused of manslaughter attacked ...
• Connor Boyd death: Trial begins for young couple accused ...
• Pedestrian killed: Name suppression denied for teens, ...

She admitted to having pushed, kicked and slapped Boyd earlier in the night and to having slapped him again through the vehicle’s window moments before he was dragged to his death.

During a name suppression hearing just days after the verdict, defence lawyer Julie-Anne Kincade KC argued her client’s youth and “ongoing safety concerns” created extreme hardship. She also noted social media commentary has been vitriolic and frequently referred to her client as a “murderer” even though she was never charged with that offence. Social media “cancel culture” could cause long-term trauma for her client, she said, while continued name suppression would help contain a “real risk of vigilante justice”.

Crown prosecutor Jessica Ah Koy strongly opposed continued suppression, as did the Herald and Stuff. The principles of open justice weigh heavily against suppression before a verdict and even more so after a trial has concluded, especially when it results in a guilty verdict for a homicide, Ah Koy argued. The victim’s family also opposes continued name suppression, she noted.

Connor Boyd, 18, died in April 2022 after he was run over in Central Auckland. Two other teens were charged with manslaughter.

Justice Gault acknowledged that the female defendant and her family “received ongoing threats and harassment attributable to people who knew Connor Boyd and were acting in a vigilante manner” at an earlier stage of the court process. But he disagreed with her lawyers that revealing her name to the wider public would increase the risk.

“While there was understandable tension between supporters of the deceased and the defendants after the incident and during the trial, there is no evidence to suggest that there are any present or ongoing threats to the safety of [the defendant] or her family by way of vigilante behaviour or otherwise,” Gault wrote. “In any event, those who might be such a risk or otherwise harass already know [her] name and who she is.”

The High Court previously denied the defendant interim name suppression before her trial, but that decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, which cited fair trial rights for the decision rather than extreme hardship.

A young couple convicted of manslaughter for the 2022 dragging death of 18-year-old pedestrian Connor Boyd will keep their names secret for now, despite losing a second name suppression bid in the High Court at Auckland this week. Photo / Dean Purcell

The woman’s co-defendant has not sought name suppression but has continued to receive it alongside the woman. Because of their prior relationship, identifying him would identify his co-defendant, the courts have determined.

Defence lawyers have also sought to suppress the names of the female defendant’s parents and her mother’s high-profile occupation. That request was also denied by Justice Gault this week but also remains under interim suppression pending appeal.

Both defendants are currently on bail awaiting sentencing. Each faces up to life imprisonment for the manslaughter convictions, although both sides have previously acknowledged home detention may be a possible outcome for the female defendant.

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.