Teen jailed for life for taxi driver's murder

Police at the scene of Mr Ikhtiari's murder. File photo / Simon Baker

A 17-year-old was today jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 15-1/2 years for murdering a taxi driver.

Shannon Boyes-Warren - aged 16 at the time of the attack - was sentenced in the High Court in Christchurch for the murder of taxi driver Abdulrahman Ikhtiari in Christchurch in December 2008.

Co-accused Randell Legion Wiremu Brown, 21, was jailed 5-1/2 years for Mr Ikhtiari's manslaughter with a minimum non-parole period of three years and eight months.

The pair were also sentenced to concurrent terms of imprisonment for assaulting Mr Ikhtiari with intent to rob him.

Mr Ikhtiari was a 39-year-old father of five, a refugee who had brought his family to New Zealand from Afghanistan.

The court was told earlier that about midnight on December 5, 2008, the youths were in the central city after drinking alcohol with associates at a Linwood address.

When they ran out of money, they took Mr Ikhtiari's taxi to go to Boyes-Warren's home in Linwood to get more. They then asked Mr Ikhtiari to drive them back to the city.

In Worcester Street, near the Barbadoes Street corner, Boyes-Warren asked the driver to stop.

He got out of the taxi, opened the driver's door, produced the knife, and demanded money, Mr Zarifeh said.

A struggle then began between Boyes-Warren and Mr Ikhtiari, while Brown reached over from the back seat and grabbed the driver around the head and chest, pinning him to the driver's seat.

During the struggle, Boyes-Warren held the knife to the driver's throat, inflicting two stab wounds, and also stabbed him three times in the leg and in the right hand.

Boyes-Warren then stabbed him in the left side of the chest, a wound that penetrated his heart.

The youths ran off in different directions while the driver tried to chase Boyes-Warren. He got as far as the middle of the road before returning to the taxi where he collapsed and died.

Boyes-Warren ran to a family member's house where he disposed of the knife.

The pair walked the streets then met up again and returned to the city to continue drinking.

They later took another taxi home and when the driver asked for the fare Boyes-Warren struck him in the face and the pair ran off.

They were found at their workplaces a few days later. Boyes-Warren was working as a scaffolder, while Brown was a painter.

Brown admitted holding the driver while Boyes-Warren stabbed him. Boyes-Warren said he didn't think he had stabbed the driver.

- NZPA