Man gets longer manslaughter term after retrial

A man who took part in a violent rampage that left a youth dead in Wanganui on Guy Fawkes night in 2004 has had his prison sentence increased by a year on retrial.

Shae Graham Brider, 24, was jailed for 8-1/2 years when he appeared for sentence in the High Court at Wellington today.

He was retried and convicted after his original sentence of 7-1/2 years was set aside on appeal.

Brider, then 19, was one of four youths who embarked on what prosecutors called a "rampage of violence" in Wanganui on November 5, 2004, the prosecution said.

The group left two men injured and 16-year-old Jeremy Frew dead from a stab wound after several hours of roaming around the city looking for people to assault.

Rawiri Hatata, then 16, was convicted of Mr Frew's murder, after a jury in the High Court at Wanganui found him guilty of stabbing the victim through the heart while he sat in his car at Castlecliff Beach.

Rio Hartley and Brider were found guilty of manslaughter while Jordan Aranui was acquitted of manslaughter.

The men were also convicted of a raft of other violence charges relating to assaults on three other men in two separate incidents earlier in the evening.

Hartley's manslaughter conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal, though his other convictions stood.

In the High Court today Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke sought a prison term for Brider of between nine and 11 years, because he knew of the risk that a knife would be used.

However, Brider's lawyer Debbie Goodlet sought a lesser sentence of between 7-1/2 and eight years.

She told the court Brider had already been before the Parole Board three times and was making progress for the board.

Justice Joseph Williams said victim impact statements from Mr Frew's family made harrowing reading.

"They demonstrate the deep and abiding pain this family has suffered as a result of your actions and the others."

Justice Williams said Brider was close enough to the events to be considered party to the assault, and knew of the risk Hatata would use the knife.

"You heard Rawiri Hatata bragging earlier about wanting to stab someone and that this bragging represented a real risk that any assault he participated in would involve the use of a knife."

He sentenced Brider to 8-1/2 years in prison, with a minimum non-parole period of half that term.

Brider, who is in prison for other violence offences committed on the night, is already eligible for parole.

- NZPA