Dying sex offender avoids prison

Recidivist sex offender Matanuku Wynn Mackey left the High Court in Whangarei through the front door - despite being found guilty of charges that could have put him in prison for 20 years.

The Whangarei grandfather, 52, has prostate cancer and doctors say he has a few months to two years to live.

Because of this, Justice Douglas White decided a 12-month home detention would be an appropriate sentence on four charges of unlawful sexual connection with a female under the age of 12.

This was despite the Crown's application for the court to impose preventive detention and Mackey having served time in jail for a similar offence.

The victims of his offending, past and present, wrote letters to court, asking for a non-custodial sentence on compassionate grounds.

The charges for which he got home detention carried a maximum of 20 years' imprisonment.

Justice White said it would be futile to impose preventive detention or a custodial sentence as both would probably last longer than Mackey's life.

- APN