Tears aplenty as Boumas given apology

By STACEY BODGER

The father of two Kaingaroa teenagers involved in the killing of Reporoa woman Beverly Bouma reduced her family to tears yesterday as he apologised for his sons' actions.

Mark Reihana sen was invited to address the High Court at Rotorua during the sentencing of Luke Reihana, aged 16, Mark Reihana, 17, and Dillon Hitaua, 23, for the manslaughter of Mrs Bouma last November 30.

Mr Reihana sobbed as he stood and told the Bouma family he could not begin to express his remorse for the loss of their wife, mother, sister and daughter.

Mrs Bouma's husband, Henk, broke down and was comforted by his son Russell, 22, as Mr Reihana thanked the Boumas for treating them with respect throughout the trial. Tears welled in Luke and Mark Reihana's eyes as they listened to their father's speech with bowed heads.

The Reihanas, Hitaua and David Poumako, 25, were also sentenced for the aggravated robbery of the Boumas' Reporoa farmhouse.

Poumako was sentenced to life imprisonment during the murder trial last month after admitting that he shot Mrs Bouma in the neck as she knelt naked before him.

Yesterday, Justice Salmon sentenced Poumako to a 91/2-year term for his role in the robbery, to be served concurrent with his life sentence.

Hitaua received a 10-year sentence for Mrs Bouma's manslaughter and eight years for the robbery, while the Reihana brothers received eight-year manslaughter sentences and seven years for robbery. All are to be served concurrently.

Outside the court, Mr Bouma said the law should be changed to see sentences served consecutively instead of at the same time.

"At the end of the day, those guys still have a life - Bev doesn't have a life any more.

"They still have a mother but my children don't. No sentence is enough for that."

Mr Bouma said Mr Reihana's apology did not change anything because it was still too early to accept losing his wife.

Sentencing the four men, Justice Salmon said no punishment would repair the Boumas' suffering and he called for a more "creative and compassionate" justice system to address the needs of victims.

"Although [the four men] expressed remorse, I wonder if you can ever truly understand the harm you have inflicted and the suffering to your own families."

Justice Salmon ordered that the Reihanas receive education and counselling during their sentences, which will be served in youth facilities until they turn 18. He said their age was a mitigating factor in the sentences.

The Crown will seek next month to have the minimum non-parole period for Poumako's life sentence extended from 10 to 13 years.