Deane Fuller-Sandys case: New trial date for Stephen Stone after convictions quashed

STEPHEN RALPH STONE, FOUND GUILTY OF THE 1989 MURDERS OF DEANE FULLER SANDYS & LEAH STEPHENS. 26/3/99...PIC BY RUSSELL SMITH ...NEG 187 (1998)...NZH 25Jun18 -

A man who spent a quarter of a century in prison before his convictions were quashed and he was bailed has a new trial date – in 2026.

Stephen Ralph Stone was convicted and imprisoned 25 years ago for the murder of West Auckland tyre fitter Deane Fuller-Sandys, as well as the rape and murder of Leah Stephens.

The Court of Appeal quashed Stone’s convictions earlier this month after a drawn-out legal process, together with those of Gail Maney, Colin Maney and Mark Henriksen.

He was declined bail by the Court of Appeal, which said bail was a matter for the High Court. His lawyers filed a bail application with the High Court, granted on Tuesday.

Gail Maney, twice found guilty of Fuller-Sandys’ murder, and her brother Colin Maney and Mark Henriksen, found guilty of being accessories to his murder, were acquitted of the charges they faced.

But the Court of Appeal ordered a re-trial for Stone, for reasons that remain suppressed.

Stone’s lawyer, Annabel Maxwell-Scott, was back in the Auckland High Court on Wednesday, before Justice Matthew Downs. Her client’s appearance was excused – he had only just been released from Whanganui Prison on Tuesday, the court heard.

During the brief hearing, Justice Downs set a date for the re-trial of February 16, 2026, for three weeks.

The case will be called again on December 11. The purpose of that hearing will be for the Crown to confirm whether it intends to pursue the re-trial, Justice Downs said.

Stephen Ralph Stone was convicted of murdering Dean Fuller-Sandys. His convictions were quashed 25 years later and a re-trial ordered.

Fuller-Sandys disappeared without trace in 1989 and was believed to have drowned after he was washed away while fishing on Auckland’s west coast. The case was later dubbed “Gone Fishing” in the media.

After a cold-case investigation in the 1990s, which would go on to prove controversial due to the methods used by detectives, police accused Gail Maney of having Stone kill Fuller-Sandys because, they said, he took drugs from her home.

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