The mother of shot Wellington school teacher Rosemary Ives believes the justice system is too lenient after three Hamilton men were fined for their part in the killing of her daughter.
Brad Ward Bennett, 27, Kyle Raymond Dean, 18, and Ashley Paul Wolland, 27, pleaded guilty to charges of breaching their
hunting permits by hunting after dark and unlawfully discharging their weapons on the night Ms Ives was fatally shot by hunter Andrew Mears.
Each was fined $2500 by Judge Phillip Cooper in the Taupo District Court yesterday.
Mears, 26, was sentenced to 2 years in jail for the manslaughter of Ms Ives in February.
The three men had been out illegally "spotlighting" with Mears near the Department of Conservation Kaimanawa Rd campsite, near Turangi, when they mistakenly took the LED headlamp Ms Ives was wearing for the eye of a deer.
From a distance believed to have been between 15m and 25m, Mears shot Ms Ives through the head while she was brushing her teeth.
The court heard that Dean, who had never been hunting or fired a gun before, was operating the spotlight and encouraged Mears to take the shot.
Judge Cooper gave the three men credit for their immediate guilty pleas and the fact they had no previous convictions was considered in the sentencing.
Although they had no part in the actual shooting, Judge Cooper said it was still a "joint enterprise".
Ms Ives' family, including mother Margaret McFarlane, father Malcolm Ives and uncle Hamish McFarlane, were in court to hear the judge's decision.
Each of them held pictures of Ms Ives while the case was being heard.
After court, Ms McFarlane read out a joint victims' report from her family and Ms Ives' partner Adam Hyndman, saying how the men's part in the killing had affected them.
"You can only start to imagine our anguish that our gentle gun-hating Rose has been the most undeserving target of illegal and irresponsible stupid shooters," she said.
