Father jailed over death of 'defenceless' toddler

A father who hurled his 17-month-old baby across a room because he grizzled during a televised rugby game has been jailed for 41/2 years.

Last month, 20-year-old Matthew Ono Leonard Iorangi was cleared of the murder of Pirimai Simmonds at their isolated home at Waotu, 25km northwest of Tokoroa, on October 17 last year, but the jury convicted him of manslaughter.

Passing sentence in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Justice Laurenson said Iorangi's actions were "inexcusable and totally unacceptable on any basis."

The judge rejected a defence call for a suspended sentence.

There were no special circumstances warranting such a course, said Justice Laurenson.

The courts were faced with too many instances of violence towards children.

A clear message had to be sent out that cruelty and violence towards children must be completely rejected, he said.

Iorangi had lost his temper when the child started grizzling as he watched television. He struck the child heavily on the back, shook him severely and threw him across the room, where he landed on his head, said the judge.

An autopsy showed that the child had suffered severe head and internal injuries.

Crown prosecutor John McDonald called for a sentence of between three and five years in jail.

It was grave offending against a "young, helpless, defenceless child."

As a parent, Iorangi had a special duty to protect the child, not harm him in the way he did.

Mr McDonald said Iorangi faced the same pressures other parents faced day in, day out.

Defence counsel Paul Dacre told the court it was a tragedy for all concerned, including Iorangi.

He found it difficult to sleep with the knowledge of what he had done.

Whatever sentence the court handed down, Iorangi would be tormented by the knowledge that he had killed his infant son.

Mr Dacre said that seldom was there such a positive pre-sentence report.

There were letters from his employer, people in the community and family, who also made the trip to Auckland in numbers to support him.

What he did was out of character.

This was not a case of ongoing, brutal attacks on a child over a long time, said Mr Dacre.

It was a situation that arose and happened in the space of a few minutes.

Mr Dacre said all parents became frustrated and most did things they regretted, but which had no consequences.

Iorangi's nightmare was that what he did had fatal results.

"He is going to try and make up for what he has done. That is all he can do.

"He can't change the clock or put himself in the place of his child. All he can do from now on is live with the consequences."

The judge ordered Iorangi to undergo whatever parental counselling was available in prison.