Hospital sentencing for man on manslaughter charge

Richard James Jarman will be allowed to remain in his hospital bed for his sentencing today on a manslaughter conviction.

The 47-year-old Christchurch man, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease that attacks the brain and spinal cord, was last month found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. Jarman admitted shooting his estranged wife and fatally wounding her lover, Garth Caldwell, in April last year.

He was acquitted of the charge of attempted murder of Gayle Annette Jarman, but found guilty of an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm.

The High Court in Christchurch released a judge's minute saying that Jarman's condition made it necessary "for the sentencing to be conducted with the assistance of a video link to the hospital".