Teen killer Haami Hanara appeals murder conviction, sentence

A shrine behind Flaxmere Tavern for Kelly Donner of Flaxmere, Hastings who was killed on March 4, 2018. Photo / Warren Buckland

A teenager who killed a man when he was aged only 14 is trying to overturn his murder conviction and life sentence in the Court of Appeal.

Haami Hanara was less than three months past his 14th birthday when he killed homeless man Kelly Donner, 40, at the Flaxmere Tavern in Hawke's Bay on March 4, 2018.

Hanara was one of a group of five youths who attacked Donner after going to the tavern intending to commit burglary.

Hanara stabbed Donner four times in the upper chest and neck with a knife, severing his carotid artery. Along with his companions, he also punched, kicked and stomped on the victim. Donner died from blood loss.

Hanara was found guilty of murder by a jury in the High Court at Napier later in 2018. In February 2019, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 10 years.

An appeal in Hanara's case was set down to be heard by three judges in the Court of Appeal this week, but barrister Ron Mansfield QC said that it had been delayed due to the impact of the Covid epidemic.

Mansfield confirmed to Open Justice that he would be appealing both Hanara's conviction and sentence when the hearing went ahead, probably in mid-May.

Hanara's fitness to stand trial would be one of the primary factors in the appeal, Mansfield said.

A forensic psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist both assessed Hanara before his case went to trial.

The specialists agreed that Hanara was mentally impaired, including an "alcohol related neuro development disorder", attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and intellectual disability.

Hanara was helped by a communication assistant when he appeared before the High Court.

However, the sentencing judge, Justice Peter Churchman, said Donner's death was a "brutal murder" and a life sentence with the power to recall the offender to prison at any time would provide the public with protection from any such behaviour in future.

"Your youth and mental incapacity do not make a life sentence manifestly unjust," Justice Churchman said.

Justice Churchman said he took Hanara's mental impairment and broader social and family background into consideration as mitigating factors when he limited Hanara's non-parole period to 10 years.

Hanara, who is now aged 18, smashed his way through a reinforced window to escape from a youth justice facility in south Auckland in 2020.

He was recaptured four days later.