Nathan Te Hana sent to prison after repeatedly stomping on flatmate's head

Nathan Ihaka Te Hana pleaded guilty to manslaughter on January 1, 2021 after stomping on his flatmate's head during an argument. Photo / NZ Herald

A man who repeatedly stomped on his flatmate's head causing injuries that later killed him has been sent to prison.

Michael Joseph Graham was found unresponsive, slumped between his bed and wall, the day after a heated argument at his Linwood flat last January. An ambulance was called but the 57-year-old died before it arrived.

His flatmate Nathan Ihaka Te Hana, 46, was today sentenced to five years and ten months imprisonment by Justice Jonathon Eaton at the Christchurch High Court for manslaughter.

Today, Graham's son, Michael Patrick Gilmore, offered his dad's killer forgiveness.

"Mike may not have been loved by everyone but he was loved by me...I still think about him daily," he said in a victim impact statement that was read out to the court.

"Is he [Te Hana] sorry it happened? I believe he is, and if he is, I want to offer him forgiveness."

Gilmore said he was also speaking on behalf of his father when he said rehabilitation and building up relationships with family and friends would be better than a prison sentence that brings "pain and sorrow".

Crown prosecutor Deidre Elsmore described the attack as a "clear loss of temper" and distinguished the offending into two parts as Te Hana punched and stomped on Graham, before returning to stomp on him again.

Elsmore acknowledged that a "racist slur" Graham directed at Te Hana shouldn't have been said but it "should not have provoked the response it did".

She said the comments made by Te Hana in the pre-sentence report showed a clear "lack of remorse" and seemed to be more focused on "self-interest" rather than how his actions have affected others.

Te Hana's lawyer Andrew Dawson said that Te Hana was thankful to Graham's son after hearing his victim impact statement and he never intended on being a part of Graham's life ending.

Dawson said violence was not uncommon in the flat between the occupants and Te Hana had previously told his Probation officer that he knew it wasn't a good environment for him.

"People who are hurt tend to hurt other people and this is a clear case of that," Dawson said.

He said while it was clear Te Hana, who has been remanded in custody since the offending, "went too far" the actions and words of Graham were a "fundamental part of what happened that day".

Nathan Ihaka Te Hana pleaded guilty to manslaughter on January 1, 2021 after stomping on his flatmate's head during an argument. Photo / NZ Herald

Justice Eaton took into account Te Hana's upbringing which was marked by violence and substance abuse as well as abuse while he was in state care which taught him to resort to violence.

"It's clear to me based on [Te Hana's] history that he has a fairly entrenched distrust in authority."

Justice Eaton said Te Hana had a number of historic violent offending in the past and previous sentences hadn't deterred him from reoffending.

Justice Eaton said he considered deliberate stomping on someone's head who is on the ground to be a high level of violence and Te Hana needed to be held accountable for his offending.

However, he found that by a "fine margin" Te Hana's offending was not extreme as it was not unprovoked or prolonged.

Justice Eaton accepted that Te Hana was remorseful for his actions and expressed concern that he might have killed Graham following the assault.

For these reasons, Justice Eaton gave Te Hana a starting point of seven years and nine months imprisonment with a minimum period of two years and 11 months to be served.

Te Hana and Graham lived together with two others in a Linwood flat. Te Hana and Graham lived in separate bedrooms upstairs.

According to the summary of facts, on January 1 last year, three of the flatmates were drinking heavily in the lounge, while Te Hana, who doesn't drink was in his room.

A woman who visited the flat became involved in an argument with Graham. Graham urinated in a bottle and threw the bottle as she was walking down the stairs. It smashed at the bottom of the staircase.

He then lifted his leg as if he was going to kick her, the summary said.

Te Hana, who heard the argument intervened, punching Graham in the head, knocking him to the floor outside his bedroom. He then stomped on Graham's head twice, wearing only socks.

As Te Hana walked away, Graham yelled an abusive word.

When Te Hana returned, Graham repeated the word, despite the woman's attempts to play it off that the word was directed at her.

Te Hana then stomped on Graham's head a third time before leaving the flat while Graham returned to his room.

The next morning Graham went downstairs to tell his flatmates he didn't feel well as he thought someone had "kicked me over". He said he felt crook and sore and was going back to his room to sleep it off.

At 11am Te Hana arrived, with an associate, and asked about Graham. He told his flatmates he had "lost it", punched and stomped on Graham and was worried he may have killed him.

The afternoon of the next day, January 3, a flatmate heard groans coming from Graham's room so went to check on him.

He found Graham slumped down between his bed and the wall, unresponsive.

An ambulance was called, but Graham was dead when it arrived.

Graham died from a large right-sided subdural haematoma causing a "left mid-line shift of the brain", and a significant right-sided subarachnoid haemorrhage with bruising to the right temporal lobe.