Bus hub killer fails to have conviction quashed

A teenager who stabbed another schoolboy to death at Dunedin’s bus hub has failed to have his manslaughter conviction overturned.

But the 15-year-old – who has permanent name suppression – had his three-year-three-month sentence of imprisonment reduced to two years seven months following the Court of Appeal’s judgement released this week.

The result means the teen will see the Parole Board next month.

The defendant, who was 13 at the time, was planning to board a bus on May 23, 2024, when he walked past 16-year-old Trinity Catholic College pupil Enere McLaren-Taana.

The victim made a comment about the younger teen’s clothing which resulted in the boy retracing his steps as Enere also closed the distance between them.

CCTV played at trial showed a brief stand-off between the boys during which the defendant reached into a shoulder bag and brandished a large kitchen knife.

Enere retreated into Great King St, aiming a roundhouse kick as the other boy pursued, slashing with the blade.

After missing with one blow, the defendant struck with the second, severing a major vein.

Enere later died in hospital.

At sentencing in July last year, Justice Rob Osborne rejected the contention the defendant had acted in excessive self-defence, calling it “an aggressive attack with a weapon against someone whose means of defence were limited in the extreme”.

Justice’s Thomas, Harland and Cull, however, disagreed.

“In our view, the judge overlooked that [the defendant] was a child, aged 13 at the time of the offending, by placing significant weight on [his] ability to think maturely,” they said.

The appeal judges said Justice Osborne’s assessment that the defendant could have withdrawn from what was a potential fist fight overlooked the evidence about the younger teen’s psychiatric state.

At trial, the court heard the defendant had been diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD – the latter coming as a result of being attacked by a group in a Dunedin park just months before the stabbing.

“There is no question that there was an aggressive attack by [the defendant] with a weapon against an unarmed person. But [he] was not an offender intending to present and use a knife from the outset to inflict violence,” the appeal judges said.

“The element of self-protection, while misguided and concerning, was in our view clearly present.”

The Court of Appeal reduced the sentence accordingly but ruled the seriousness of the crime was not outweighed by the potential consequences to the defendant.

The basis of the application for a discharge without conviction centred around the possible deportation of the teen and the significant risk of family members facing the same fate.

At the time of sentencing, the defendant held a temporary visa, which had since lapsed, and family members’ applications for residency had been declined.

It meant the teenager was now liable for deportation, regardless of a conviction.

The only way he could avoid such an outcome, the court said, seemed to hinge on an appeal on humanitarian grounds or "some sort of discretionary intervention”.

Immigration New Zealand’s decision had been delayed pending the court’s decision.

“Overall, we accept that deportation of [the defendant], if it occurs, will have a very significant effect on [him] and [his] family,” the Court of Appeal said.

“We consider a discharge without conviction for this manslaughter offending would insufficiently respond to the seriousness of [the] offending . . . It involved use of a weapon against an unarmed person.”

The court heard the defendant had undertaken a youth rehabilitation programme while in custody, “designed to develop positive strategies to manage challenges in a non-violent way” and was waitlisted for a stopping-violence course.  

There was also mention of the teenager being assaulted while serving his sentence.

“We express our concern that [he] is not being adequately protected from further violence,” the appeal judges said.