Courtney Churchward and Lori-Leah Te Wini at the Rotorua High Court in 2009
A teenager sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a retired teacher has had her appeal against her sentence dismissed.
Lori-Leah Te Wini was sentenced to a minimum
non-parole period of 10 years in the Rotorua High Court last year for
the 2008 murder of 79-year-old Bay of Plenty teacher John Rowe.
Te Wini's lawyer appealed the sentence in the Court
of Appeal on the basis it was "manifestly unjust" and was seeking a
substitution of a finite sentence of eight to 10 years.
However in a decision released today, Justice John Wild dismissed the appeal.
Te Wini and her then 17-year-old cousin Courtney
Churchward broke into Mr Rowe's Opotiki home overnight on November
24-25, 2008, with the intention to rob him.
While searching the house the two girls disturbed Mr
Rowe, who was in bed at the time. They armed themselves with items they
found in the living room with the apparent plan to knock Mr Rowe
unconscious.
After attacking Mr Rowe, the two left the bedroom and continued to ransack the house, taking car keys and Mr Rowe's wallet.
Both were convicted of
murder after a trial in November 2009 and sentenced to life imprisonment
for a minimum period of 17 years.
However, Te Wini was successful in appealing that sentence and a retrial ordered.
Churchward
had an appeal against her conviction dismissed, but an appeal against
the sentence was granted. She was resentenced to a minimum imprisonment
of 13 years.
In the decision, Justice Wild said
the sentencing judge needed to take into account Te Wini's circumstances
as well as the circumstances of the crime.
"Along
with Ms Churchward, Ms Te Wini was involved in brutally murdering a
defenceless old man in his bed in his own home at night.
"We
agree with the judge that the circumstances of the offence, and Ms Te
Wini's involvement in it, were such that a sentence of life imprisonment
was not manifestly unjust."
Justice Wild saw no fault in Justice Mark Woolford's assessment of Te Wini's role in the murder.
3 News Tue, 04 Jun 2013 1:09p.m.
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