NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Horror as killer's violent past revealed

APNZ
14 Feb, 2013 11:30 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nicho Waipuka. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Nicho Waipuka. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Phil Cottrell's family is horrified his killer was on intensive supervision when the Wellington journalist was fatally beaten in a callous attack.

They learned details of Nicho Waipuka's violent past only when he was sentenced to 12 years and 10 months in prison in the High Court at Wellington today.

Waipuka, 20, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a High Court jury in December.

His co-accused Manuel Robinson, 18, was cleared of all charges.

Mr Cottrell, who had brittle bones as a result of a genetic condition, suffered a shattered skull in the attack as he walked home from work at Radio New Zealand in central Wellington early on December 10, 2011.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He died in hospital the next day.

It was revealed today that just over two weeks before the attack, Waipuka had been sentenced to intensive supervision after he punched a stranger in the head, knocking him to the ground.

Waipuka pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced on November 22.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The judge at the time noted he should be sent to prison - but instead gave Waipuka a "last chance" by imposing a sentence of intensive supervision.

Seventeen days later, Waipuka went into town intending to "knock someone out".

He saw Mr Cottrell walking down Boulcott St, crossed the road and punched him in the head.

Waipuka then kicked or stomped on him, causing his skull to shatter and his arm to fracture, before taking Mr Cottrell's wallet and fleeing.

Justice Forrest Miller said Waipuka had 24 previous convictions dating to July 2009, including assault and threatening to kill.

"I think that you enjoy violence and that you use it casually to get what you want," he told Waipuka, who remained impassive in the dock throughout sentencing.

Mr Cottrell's brother-in-law, Heath Hollows, told reporters outside court he was angry Waipuka had been on intensive supervision at the time.

"We found that out just before we walked into the court this morning, and that was like an earthquake. It's just rocked us."

He said if the judge had made a different decision, Mr Cottrell might be alive today.

"Maybe he should have put him away and Phil would be here. People already knew what [Waipuka] was like - he was just given a chance, one too many."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mr Cottrell's sister, Susan Hollows, said no sentence would ever be enough, but it was better than they expected.

"I feel like the jury gave two angry thugs the benefit of the doubt rather than giving justice for an innocent man. But Justice Miller has done the best for us that he possibly could in the situation, and we're really, really grateful for that.

"We were prepared for the worst, and it's actually way better than what we were expecting.''

Mrs Hollows described Mr Cottrell as "one of life's gentlemen".

"He was a good, caring and thoughtful human being - highly intelligent, loved by so many people, and it's a massive loss to the world that he's gone."

In an emotional victim impact statement to the court, Mrs Hollows spoke of the "gut-wrenching horror" of seeing her blackened and bruised brother on life support in hospital.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It was hard to tell that it was Phil lying there, his injuries were so horrific," she said.

"I will never forget how tightly he gripped my hand in those last minutes."

Mrs Hollows said the pain of her loss was physical, and had left her with stabbing pains in her stomach.

"I'm serving my own life sentence of pain and torture."

Their mother in the UK was devastated and to this day unable to leave her house due to depression.

Defence counsel Paul Paino agreed the attack had been senseless, unprovoked and violent.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But he said Waipuka had committed no serious acts of violence in the past and had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter - an offer the Crown declined.

Justice Miller said Mr Cottrell had done nothing to provoke the eight-second attack as he walked home from work.

"The attack was not only swift but also brutal. Mr Cottrell suffered terrible injuries."

He sentenced Waipuka to 12 years and 10 months in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of eight and a half years.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Campylobacter hospitalisations up 70% as contaminated chicken blamed

New Zealand

End to open-plan classrooms and bootcamp reoffending stats | NZ Herald News Update: July 17, 2025

Watch
New Zealand

Israel bombs Syrian army's headquarters in Damascus

Watch

Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Campylobacter hospitalisations up 70% as contaminated chicken blamed
New Zealand

Campylobacter hospitalisations up 70% as contaminated chicken blamed

Hospitalisation rates for the bacterial infection rose nearly 70% in 17 years.

16 Jul 08:13 PM
End to open-plan classrooms and bootcamp reoffending stats | NZ Herald News Update: July 17, 2025
New Zealand

End to open-plan classrooms and bootcamp reoffending stats | NZ Herald News Update: July 17, 2025

Watch
16 Jul 06:59 PM
Israel bombs Syrian army's headquarters in Damascus
New Zealand

Israel bombs Syrian army's headquarters in Damascus

Watch
16 Jul 06:21 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP