The man who brutally beat his 69-year-old neighbour to death and then, as she lay dying and unresponsive, sexually assaulted her twice, has appealed his life sentence.

On May 26 Jaden Lee Stroobant was sentenced to preventive detention and life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for his "callous and depraved" crimes.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to murdering the 69-year-old Cunxiu Tian in her family home in January last year.

On Friday morning, Julie-Ann Torrance wiped away tears as the High Court in Auckland heard how she helped brutally torture and kidnap an Auckland teenager. 

She sat alongside Nicola Jones and Wayne Blackett who had also played a part of the crime that became known as 'The Dome Valley case'. 

The trio were all handed down jail terms exceeding 10 years.

The man who brutally beat his 69-year-old neighbour to death and then, as she lay dying and unresponsive, sexually assaulted her twice, has been sentenced to preventive detention and life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years for his "callous and depraved" crimes.

A man has been cleared of family violence charges after a lengthy retrial in Hamilton.

The jury found the man, who has permanent name suppression to protect the identity of his children, not guilty on seven charges in the Hamilton District Court today.

Claims of headlocks, threats to life and assaults on children are at the centre of a trial involving a prominent couple.

Crown prosecutor Geraldine Kelly told a jury in her opening submissions at the Hamilton District Court this morning, the couple presented themselves as "the perfect type of family" that some people thought "lived the perfect lifestyle".

An Auckland mother-of-two has been sentenced to home detention for her role in the group kidnapping of a woman who died trying to escape. 

Cecilia Hansen, 30, appeared in front of Justice Murray Gilbert at the High Court at Auckland on Wednesday having plead guilty to the kidnapping of Jindarat Prutsiriporn. 

The man who murdered and sexually violated elderly Te Atatu woman Cunxiu Tian was released from prison 38 days before her brutal death.

Jaden Lee Stroobant on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murdering the 69-year-old in her home on January 15 last year.

Two Auckland criminal barristers have each begun a project to help sentenced people in different ways than defending them or providing legal services.

Susan Gray and Emma Priest, from the recently re-established Blackstone Chambers, aim to follow the words of Barbara Mikulski, who said: “Each one of us can make a difference. Together we make change.”

A group of people accused of kidnapping a Thai woman before she leaped to her death from a moving car called themselves 'ghost unit' and tried to kidnap her once before, court documents reveal. 

Six people have denied Jindarat Prutsiriporn's manslaughter and five others have denied kidnapping her and will stand trial in May next year. 

Auckland criminal barrister Emma Priest has helped develop a practice management app specifically for barristers.

It began when she went out as a barrister earlier this year, re-establishing Blackstone Chambers in Wyndham Street together with a number of other colleagues.

“One of my key concerns was what document and practice management system I should use,” Ms Priest says.