NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Pair sentenced for murder - one avoids life sentence

Kurt Bayer
By Kurt Bayer
South Island Head of News·NZME.·
6 Nov, 2014 11:05 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Jason William Baker, 40, and Shaun Murray Robert Innes, 38, were found guilty by a High Court jury in Christchurch. Photo / File

Jason William Baker, 40, and Shaun Murray Robert Innes, 38, were found guilty by a High Court jury in Christchurch. Photo / File

Two men found guilty of murdering a low-level drug dealer during a robbery gone wrong in North Canterbury have been sentenced today - but in a rare move, one offender has avoided a life sentence.

Jason William Baker, 40, and Shaun Murray Robert Innes, 38, were found guilty by a High Court jury in Christchurch of murdering 51-year-old Rangiora man Tony John Lochhead on September 13 last year.

Today, a judge sentenced Baker to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for his role in using a hunting knife to fatally stab Mr Lochhead and wound his brother Peter Graham Lochhead, 54.

However, Justice Rachel Dunningham took the rare decision not to sentence Innes to life imprisonment.

She sentenced him to 10 years in jail, with no non-parole period, given that his role on the fateful night was to simply knock on the Lochheads' door and lure them outside before he ran away.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Justice Dunningham told father-of-three Innes in the dock: "I am satisfied that you were not present when the fatal stab wound occurred. The jury was clearly of the view that you went there with a common intention to rob the Lochheads and that you had played your part in enticing them out of the flat."

The trial heard that the pair had arrived at the Lochheads' flat with the plan of robbing them of drugs, guns, and cash.

But while Baker, from Christchurch, attacked them, Innes ran off.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The brothers fought back in self-defence.

Baker cut Tony on his chest, arms, face, neck, ear and lower arm with a hunting knife.

"He got me, he got me f****** good", he said, before collapsing to the floor, with blood coming out of his throat. Peter received non-fatal cut injuries.

Innes and Baker were arrested in the following days.

Discover more

New Zealand|crime

Manslaughter after robbery gone wrong

03 Jun 12:09 AM

They both denied charges of murder and aggravated wounding.

Today, Peter Lochhead told Innes and Baker that he could not forgive them.

"I have to trust the law will give some kind of justice to my brother," he said in a victim impact statement read to the court.

"Life will never be the same again."

The brothers' niece Jasmine Lochhead, a 22-year old university student, told the killers that she hoped that would "commit seriously" to making changes to their lives.

Tracey Ross, Tony's sister-in-law, said she hoped that while inside jail the pair would "think about the life they ripped away from our family".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Crown prosecutor Pip Currie said the suffering and effects of the "robbery gone wrong, [that] turned into a murder" will be long-standing for the family.

Innes had clearly known why they were there that night, Ms Currie said.

But she accepted his culpability was lower than Baker's, and therefore should be given a lesser sentence.

Defence counsel Gerald Nation rejected notions that Innes should receive a lesser sentence, in what he described as being a "joint enterprise".

Baker had written a letter to the court where he expressed his sorrow, he said.

In reference to Peter Lochhead having to watch his brother die, he wrote: "I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I deserve everything I get," he said.

Mr Nation said the case highlighted the tragic consequences of people addicted to hard drugs - a hypothesis Justice Rachel Dunningham agreed with.

Defence counsel Michael Knowles said Innes "didn't think it would go as wrong as this".

He argued that Innes' role was greatly less than Baker's.

Justice Dunningham agreed. She had "no hesitation" in concluding that it would have been unjust to impose a life sentence on Innes.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Major blaze shuts down East Tāmaki Rd as crews tackle scrap yard fire

10 May 07:18 PM
New Zealand

'Little miracle': Family's fight as rare lung cancer strikes 3yo

10 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

Ryan Bridge: Our high airfare curse is one of economics not competition

10 May 05:00 PM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Major blaze shuts down East Tāmaki Rd as crews tackle scrap yard fire

Major blaze shuts down East Tāmaki Rd as crews tackle scrap yard fire

10 May 07:18 PM

Part of East Tāmaki Rd is closed due to a large scrap yard blaze.

'Little miracle': Family's fight as rare lung cancer strikes 3yo

'Little miracle': Family's fight as rare lung cancer strikes 3yo

10 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Ryan Bridge: Our high airfare curse is one of economics not competition

Ryan Bridge: Our high airfare curse is one of economics not competition

10 May 05:00 PM
Meet the woman who peels 20kg of horseradish a day

Meet the woman who peels 20kg of horseradish a day

10 May 05:00 PM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP