If a wealthy sex offender donates a large amount of money to charity, should they be eligible for a reduced prison sentence?

A top King’s Counsel says it’s not unusual for a court to award a sentence discount for reparation or compensation.

Does that put a rich criminal in a better position at sentencing than someone with less money?

“Yes, and that’s just life. That is just the way it is,” Marie Dyhrberg, KC, told the Herald.

“It’s unfortunate that not everyone has the same advantages, but you cannot penalise someone when the law says you can get a discount if you can do A,B, C or D,” said Dyhrberg, who specialises in criminal defence law.

Dyhrberg’s comments come after a man from a wealthy family convicted of having “extreme” child abuse material received a 3% sentence discount for a $50,400 charity donation.

A discount is a reduction to the sentence that a judge would otherwise impose for factors that include remorse, a guilty plea, or previous good character.

A former Auckland teacher who was ordered to serve a term of imprisonment after admitting to performing sex acts on a 15-year-old student has had her sentence reduced to home detention on appeal.

But the same High Court justice said permanent suppression would be a step too far for Myah Leanie Adams, who can now be identified for the first time.

“The public interest in knowing the identity of the teacher who committed the offending considerably outweighs the impacts of publication on Ms Adams,” Justice Gerard van Bohemen wrote in a newly released 28-page decision.

Paul Joseph Dally has been at the self-care unit at Auckland South Corrections Facility, with a minimum security classification Photo: RNZ / Sam Olley

In a decision released on Thursday, the parole board remained concerned about the level of support available to Dally while he reintegrated, but work was underway to prepare him for that.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment on 8 March 1990, and for the past year had been held in a self-care unit at Auckland South Corrections Facility, with a minimum security classification.

When he appeared before the parole board in June 2024, it heard about his efforts to prepare for an eventual release - but on that date, he did not seek parole

By now aged in his mid 60s, he was told to expect a very different world than the one he had known - one where people used cards rather than cash, and bought their food from modern supermarkets.

His lawyer, Emma Priest, submitted in April that, while her client was not seeking parole, he was "almost ready," although he remained dependent on support from his case manager to prepare for reintegration.

A man sent to prison after an “unlawful” photo was taken by a police officer, linking him to a robbery, has had the charge thrown out after a long fight and can now walk free.

Mahia Tamiefuna was convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in 2021 after being charged in relation to an aggravated robbery in 2019.

Tamiefuna then appealed that conviction all the way up to the Supreme Court, who ruled the police photograph was unlawful and in breach of his rights, meaning the evidence had to be excluded.

The Supreme Court quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Henry Steele told Justice Timothy Brewer the Crown would not be seeking a retrial as there was insufficient evidence to proceed.

Justice Brewer acquitted Tamiefuna allowing him to leave the dock.

A 27-year-old Auckland teacher was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for grooming and performing sex acts on a 15-year-old student.

• Judge Brooke Gibson emphasised the significant breach of trust and ordered her to be placed on the child sex offender registry.

• The teacher’s request for permanent name suppression was denied, but her name remains suppressed pending appeal.

A jury trial involving three Crips gang members accused of contributing to the murder of a South Auckland pensioner four years ago has ended without a verdict after almost a month.

Justice David Johnstone discharged the jury late yesterday afternoon after jurors indicated for the second time in as many days they could not reach a consensus on the charges against Lasalosi Vaitohi, 33, Ethan “Crave” Jessop, 25, and Daziea “Aggro” Huia, 21.

They had been deliberating since Thursday last week for a total of about 22 hours.

The deadlock marked the second time a trial for the trio has ended without resolution. In 2023, Justice Johnstone aborted a trial on the same charges after one day for reasons that remain suppressed.

The next trial date is not expected to be decided until next month.

A young man who was beaten to death inside an Auckland bar without provocation was a naturally talented musician with an infectious smile and a knack for bringing his people together, his family told the man’s killer today as they stood before him in the High Court at Auckland.

“We may have failed our son because we taught our children to love all people,” Reverend Dr Matagi Vilitama said during his victim impact statement at the murder sentencing of Christopher Tean Salt. “Perhaps if we had taught him to be cautious and suspicious of strangers, he would still be alive today.”

A CCTV camera inside the game room at Richardson’s Bar and Restaurant in Mt Roskill was recording on the night of August 31, 2023 as Salt, 36, violently turned on new acquaintance Tofimua Matagi – blindsiding the gregarious darts opponent with a surprise punch that knocked him to the ground before a “soccer”-like kick to the face and four head stomps with full force.

A 75-year-old South Auckland rugby league stalwart who was fatally gunned down on the doorstep of his home three-and-a-half years ago had been in the process of trying to shoo off a Crips 23 gang member who was there to target his grandson, jurors were told today as the trial began for a trio accused of murder.

Peter Rasmussen bled to death in the kitchen of his Ōtāhuhu home on a Sunday evening in August 2021, before he could reach his landline phone to call for help.

“What had he done to deserve this?” Crown prosecutor Gareth Kayes said during his opening address today. “I suggest absolutely nothing.”

Authorities allege Ethan Jessop, 24, shot Rasmussen in the leg with a recently acquired shotgun he nicknamed “Big Bad Beth”, while co-defendant Daziea Leslie Huia, 21, had arranged for a car to be used in the ambush and had participated in other planning. Both men sat in the High Court at Auckland dock today as the trial got under way following several days of delays that saw the selection of two different jury panels.

Defence lawyers say they are doing what they can, to give their clients the best chance of a fair sentence following cuts to funding for background and cultural reports, but it is taking its toll. Under Section 27 of the Sentencing Act an offender can ask the court to hear their background, the way that background may have related to the offence, any efforts to resolve the offending and what further support could be available to help prevent further offending.

A Fonterra manager who gave a young employee a slab of imported beer contaminated with a deadly dose of concentrated liquid methamphetamine has been sentenced to 21 years in prison, as the victim’s family described a “nightmare that never ends” in court.

Himatjit “Jimmy” Kahlon, 42, was found guilty by jurors in the High Court at Auckland last October of manslaughter and possession of methamphetamine for supply.

Aiden Sagala, 21, died on March 7, 2023, when his heart failed from a huge meth overdose – drugs he unknowingly consumed after they were imported in beer cans and stashed in a rented warehouse in Manukau.

In the High Court at Auckland today, Justice Kiri Tahana sentenced Kahlon to 21 years in prison for manslaughter and the possession of meth for supply. A minimum period of imprisonment of 10 years was applied.