Judge in a quandry over Pora sentence

A High Court judge sentencing twice-convicted murderer Teina Pora condemned new sentencing laws as "repugnant to justice," but said he was forced to follow them.

In the High Court at Auckland yesterday, Justice Williams sentenced Mongrel Mob prospect Teina Pora to the minimum 13-year prison term for his part in the murder of Susan Burdett.

Because of a law change covering home invasions which came into effect last July, the term was three years longer than that Pora would normally have expected to serve after his 1994 conviction for murdering the South Auckland accounts clerk in 1992.

"It is repugnant to justice for the court to sentence you to longer terms of imprisonment than had your trial occurred before July," Justice Williams said.

Pora's lawyer, Marie Dyhrberg, said he would appeal against the sentence.

Last year, the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial for Pora, saying there was little to establish that his videotaped confessions to police were genuine.

But in April of this year, at his second trial, Pora was again convicted for his part in the rape, aggravated robbery and murder of Susan Burdett.

The law change - the Criminal Justice Amendment Act - appeared to make retrospective the parliamentary amendment requiring courts to impose an extra three years' minimum non-parole period for people convicted of murder in a home invasion.

However, crucial constitutional anomalies in the law emerged in the sentencing last year of David Poumako, convicted of killing Beverly Bouma during a vicious home invasion in Reporoa.

The Bill of Rights Act, and an international covenant to which New Zealand is a party, both say offenders should not face worse penalties than those in force when they committed their offence.

The Government said it wanted quickly to fix the law because of the anomalies. However, it did not make any changes.

The case then went to the Court of Appeal which, last month, ruled that Poumako would have to wait 13 years before being eligible for parole, even though he shot Mrs Bouma before Parliament passed the act.

Yesterday, Justice Williams said it might not have been Parliament's intention to make the law retrospective but "if it means what the plain words say, I have no option."

Pora's crime was committed "cold-bloodedly and with great barbarity" when he and one, possibly two others broke into Susan Burdett's Papatoetoe home, he said.

He sentenced Pora to 12 years' jail on the rape charge and 10 years' on the aggravated robbery count. Those terms will be served concurrently.

Outside the court Marie Dyhrberg said Pora's case was unique and not covered by the Court of Appeal's finding in the Bouma case.

"The retrospective aspect of home invasion laws is absolutely abhorrent to international criminal law," she said.

Because of the time Pora has already served in jail and yesterday's sentencing, he will now be eligible for parole at the end of 2006. He would have been eligible in 2003 under his earlier murder conviction and sentence.