David Tamihere: 'Crown's case just keeps falling apart'

Double-murderer David Tamihere says he will keep fighting to have his convictions quashed. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

David Tamihere is hoping for judicial mercy after a secret witness at his 1990 double-murder trial was today jailed for perjury.

'Witness C' was sentenced to eight years and seven months' imprisonment by Justice Christian Whata in the High Court at Auckland.

The secret jailhouse informant, whose identity remains hidden, was one of three prisoners to give evidence at Tamihere's trial for the murders of Swedish tourists Urban Hoglin and Heidi Paakkonen.

However, in a rare and "truly exceptional" case, Witness C was found guilty by a jury in August of eight counts of perjury for fabricating Tamihere's confession.

David Tamihere talking to media outside the High Court at Auckland today. Photo / Sam Hurley

Speaking to media outside court, Tamihere said Witness C's convictions for perjury were more important to him than the prison sentence.

"Since I've been convicted the Crown's case just keeps falling apart. Bits and pieces just keep falling off it," he said.

He added that he wouldn't stop in his campaign to have his murder convictions quashed and hoped now for a Crown pardon.

He said his chances were "getting better as the years go by".

Despite Witness C's perjury convictions, Tamihere's murder convictions will stand unless he is granted a Crown pardon.

He has already exhausted the judicial appeals process when he was denied leave to appeal to the Privy Council in 1994.

Tamihere was convicted of murdering Urban Hoglin. Photo / File

Tamihere, who has other violence convictions, including manslaughter, admitted to stealing the Swedes' car but has always denied having met them, or confessing to their murders.

He was released from prison in 2010 after being sentenced to life imprisonment.

When sentencing Witness C, Justice Whata described the perjury as a "brazen assault on the foundation of our criminal justice system".

The judge also revoked the informant's name suppression which has been ongoing since 1990.

But an interim suppression order was made after Witness C's lawyer Adam Simperingham indicated an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the perjury convictions.

Heidi Paakkonen's body has never been found. Photo / File