Jaden Stroobant to be sentenced for murder, sexual assault of West Auckland pensioner

Jaden Lee Stroobant. New Zealand Herald photograph by Brett Phibbs

KEY POINTS:

• Crown seeking indefinite sentence for brutal murder, sexual assault
• Killer had been out of jail just 38 days when he killed his neighbour
• He stomped on her head, then sexually violated her twice
• Initially denied any involvement but later admitted three charges

The man convicted of the brutal murder and repeated sexual violation of elderly Te Atatu woman Cunxiu Tian as she lay dying will be sentenced today.

Jaden Lee Stroobant has pleaded guilty to murdering the 69-year-old in her family home in January last year.

Stroobant confronted the woman at her Glenvil Lane home before subjecting her to a violent beating.

He stomped on her head, causing a fatal injury, and then violated her as she lay helpless in her own home.

Today the Crown will seek an indefinite sentence of preventive detention for Stroobant.

He had been out of prison just 38 days when he killed Tian.

In mid-2015 Stroobant was jailed on a raft of charges including burglary.

He was released on December 8, 2015 and lived at a boarding house in Te Atatu.

Shortly before the murder, he moved into a property that bordered Tian's family home.

He was living there with his mother Krissie Stroobant, who spoke to the Herald days after Tian was slain.

She revealed that police had interviewed her for five hours after Tian was killed, quizzing her about her son's whereabouts.

Stroobant initially denied having any involvement in Tian's death and pleaded not guilty to murder and two counts of sexual violation.

However, on the day his High Court trial was set to begin in February, he changed his plea and admitted all three offences.

What is preventive detention?

Preventive detention an indeterminate prison sentence.

Those sentenced to preventive detention may be released on parole but will be managed by Corrections for the rest of their lives.

They can also be recalled to prison at any time should they reoffend.

Under the Sentencing Act 2002 the purpose of preventive detention is to "protect the community from those who pose a significant and ongoing risk to the safety of its members".

The offender must be 18 or older and must be convicted of a qualifying sexual or violent offence.

The court must also be "satisfied that the person is likely to commit another qualifying sexual or violent offence if the person is released at the sentence expiry date".

"The High Court may, on the application of the prosecutor or on its own motion, impose a sentence of preventive detention on the offender," the act states.

"When considering whether to impose a sentence of preventive detention, the court must take into account any pattern of serious offending disclosed by the offender's history; the seriousness of the harm to the community caused by the offending; information indicating a tendency to commit serious offences in future; the absence of, or failure of, efforts by the offender to address the cause or causes of the offending; and the principle that a lengthy determinate sentence is preferable if this provides adequate protection for society."