By Ric Stevens, Multimedia Journalist of 
Haami Hanara was 14 when he stood trial for killing Kelly Donner. Photo: Pool photo
Haami Hanara, who was only 14 when he knifed a homeless man to death, is a free man after his murder conviction was quashed and he admitted manslaughter.
Hanara was one of a group of youths who attacked Kelly Donner when he was sleeping rough in Flaxmere, Hastings, on the night of 4 March, 2018.
Hanara was holding a knife and stabbed the 40-year-old man four times - in the upper chest, left shoulder and twice in the neck. One cut severed his carotid artery and another hit his jugular vein.
Donner fell to the ground and the rest of the youths stomped and kicked him before running off. Donner died at the scene.
Hanara was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 2019, but that conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal.
He has since admitted manslaughter and was sentenced by Justice Christine Grice on that charge in the High Court at Napier this week.
She imposed a sentence of two years and 7.5 months in prison, meaning Hanara was entitled to immediate release from prison on the time served for his earlier conviction.
He will be subject to standard release conditions for six months, which means he will need to report to a probation officer, who will monitor where he lives and works and might specify rehabilitation programmes.
Hanara's counsel, Ron Mansfield KC, told the court that he had already engaged positively with the probation officer, and Justice Grice said "this bodes well for the future".
Hanara is 19.
Hanara did not seek name suppression for the manslaughter conviction. Justice Grice said he wanted people to know how matters had been sorted out.
"Although your name will be in the news again, [and] people will know that you have been sentenced again, you have now served your sentence and are being rehabilitated into the community.
"You are making a fresh start on your life out of the Hawke's Bay and beginning fulltime employment, having undertaken training to enable you to gain that employment.
"From the accounts I have heard, you have responded positively to the opportunities now presented," the judge said.
"You have set a steady course that hopefully will leave to a positive life and one much better than you had before the offending."
Donner left behind two children.
Justice Grice said his family members had acknowledged the fairness of the latest sentencing outcome.
"However, that does not change the anger or sadness at the senseless killing of Mr Donner. It was clear he was a much-loved member of an extended whānau."
The court was told that Hanara had no memory of his mother and spent most of his childhood with his father. Oranga Tamariki was involved in his life when he was six months old.
"You had a lack of parental supervision, were subjected to family violence, illegal activities and parental gang affiliations. You were neglected, surrounded by drug and alcohol abuse and criminal offending," Justice Grice said.
Hanara used drugs regularly from the age of 9 and has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and intellectual disability, all of which were untreated until recently.
"You will suffer from those disabilities for the rest of your life."
- This story was first published by the New Zealand Herald.
Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME's Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke's Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.
