Prison for girl’s death

Press, 4 August 1981, Page 4

Prison for girl’s death

I ‘ You will have this girls I death orr your conscience for I the rest of your life." Mr ■’Justice Casey said in the High Court yesterday when' sentencing a .youth to imprisonment for two years and a half on a charge of manslaughter. ' Wayne Temanaki Te Iwimate. aged 18, an assembler, of Blenheim, was found guilty by a jury in the early hours of July 24 of the manslaughter of Christine Judith Schofield, aged 20, by striking her on the head with a baseball bat as she left a firm's Christmas party. His two companions'on the vengeance raid. George Terry Anthony Reriti and Raymond Henry Talbot, both aged 17. and unemployed, were each sentenced to nine months for the manslaughter of the girl. Evidence was given at the three-week trial of seven youths who were charged with murdering Miss Schofield, that Te Iwimate struck the fatal blow as Miss Schofield walked hand in hand with her boyfriend down the drive of a house in Woolston on their waj’ home from the party in the early hours of December 23. She died two days later in the Otago Hospital after surgery for a depressed fracture of the skull. Four of the seven youths charged with murder were acquitted and the other three were found. guilty of manslaughter. Those "three had been earlier unjustifiably accused’of being associates

of a woman ■ who had been suspected of stealing a purse. Mr B. McClelland. Q.C., for Te Iwimate. said that the prisoner had no idea when he swung the bat at Miss Schofields companion that he would hit the girl. Te Iwimate came from a well-respected family and had shown no signs of violence until the present offence. The girl's death was tragic, but all the doctors had agreed that the blow would not have caused death if it had not been for the malignant brain swelling which was comparatively rare and did not respond to treatment. Te Iwimate had been in custody/since Christmas. Mr McClelland 'said. Mr M. J. Knowles, for Reriti. said that his client had played no part in the blow which caused the unfortunate girl's death. He was the youngest of the group and was filled with sincere remorse. He was found guilty only as a party. Mr E. T. Higgins, for Talbot. said that his client was the unluckiest of the three to be convicted. He had spent three months in custody. It was clear that he was in need of assistance but there was a great deal of good in him. It was an unhappy task for any Court to have to sentence three young persons, of the ages of the prisoners, said his Honour. ‘'As a result of your actions, particularly those-of Te Iwimate. a young woman

is now dead. Anything I can do in the way of sentence won't bring her back to life." his Honour said. The sentence had to reflect the community’s distress and outrage at such behaviour and he was also concerned to deter other young persons of a like mind because some were too ready to resort to violence to avenge some real or fancied grievance. But he had to emphasise that this' was not. a gang situation that so frequently came before the Court when there had been uninhibited violence. This offence was the consequence of a number of young men from good homes — good, intelligent, likeable persons — who got together in an environment where they had too ready, access to drink and aduft behaviour arising from 'a ' hotel environment that led to the ready acceptance of such offending. While he had to imprison all three he did not want to impose sentences on persons standing on the threshold of adulthood, which would ruin their lives. But it had to be remembered that a young woman's life had been extinguished. "You will haVe her death on your conscience, Te Iwimate. for the rest of your life," his Honour said. Te Iwimate had as good a probation report as he had ever seen for a young man in this situation. His references showed the highest appreciation of his helpfulness, work at school and the polytechnic

and his achievements in sport. ' . ' "You are presented as a most attractive young man and had it not been for this appalling occurrence you could have looked forward to a life of achievement which I hope will still be open to you when you have served your sentence." said his Honour. “But I regret to say that what you did on this evening in taking a swing with the baseball bat in the dark at the first person you came across, coupled with your conduct in the street earlier on. reflects a violent side of your nature, probably caused by a culmination of anger and drink, which may not have been apparent to people who were close to you." said his Honour. From the evidence he had a very clear impression that Te Iwimate was the prime mover and the organiser in getting the group together and assembling weapons to go back and take his revenge. He had very real sense of grievance' about what had happened earlier at the home because it was obvious that he was an innocent party. Referring to Reriti and Talbot, his Honour said that they had played a part in helping to gather weapons and reinforcements and had deliberately and willingly gone along with Te Iwimate to encourage him in an assault on persons at the party. It was riot a case where he could agree to counsels' submission that he should be

lenient' to the extent that . they be kept out of prison. Reriti had a good background but Talbot did not for reasons which were not in his control. Talbot had not shown the same capacity for "work and application, but his Honour said that he did not think that he ' could altogether blame that on him. They would be both treated the same, his Honour said.