Siale Siale in court. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
A man who pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter for the death of South African man Luke Smith has been sentenced to two years and three months imprisonment.
Siale Siale, 30, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was sentenced at the High Court in Wellington on Thursday.
Smith, 21, was assaulted outside the old Reading Cinema building in Wellington last October.
He fell directly backwards, his head hitting the road.
Court documents showed Siale kicked his victim in the groin, swore at him and filmed him on his phone as he lay unconscious and bleeding on the pavement in the early hours of 6 October 2024.
Smith was rushed to hospital and died when his life support was removed.
Parents lives shattered
In a victim impact statement from Luke Smith's parents Brian and Natasha Smith, the pair said they came to New Zealand to give their only son a safer and better life.
The pair, who had not long moved to New Zealand at the time, said their son had big dreams and his chance to live those out was stolen by Siale.
They said no parent should have to go through the pain they were experiencing, and that their death had killed a part of them too.
Victim impact statements were also read out from other family members and the family priest who were unable to be in court.
They highlighted how the senselessness of Smith's death in a foreign country had been hard for the family to reconcile and the gaping hole he had left in his family's lives.
Luke Smith, 21, died after the assault when life support was removed. Photo: Supplied
Home detention sentence sought
Defence lawyer Lucie Scott said there was no suggestion that more than a single punch had been intended, although much graver consequences had resulted.
She said Siale stood before the court a different man to what he had been last October.
She said he had been willing to engage in restorative justice and had also abstained from alcohol since.
Scott said Siale was acutely aware of how his actions had impacted so many lives, including his young son.
She said he was seeking a sentence of home detention due to the impact incarceration would have on his son.
The Crown opposed this, calling for a prison sentence.
Judge's decision
Tears broke out from both sides of the courtroom after the judge laid out his decision.
Justice Dale La Hood said no sentence he could impose would make up for Luke Smith's family's loss.
But he also acknowledged the difficulty the day would hold for Siale's family.
La Hood said it was clear Siale was remorseful and he commended Siale for entering an early guilty plea and taking significant steps to rehabilitate.
He encouraged Siale to live a full and productive life after his sentence.
Siale would pay the victim's family $10,000 in reparations, which the family would use to set up a foundation in Luke's name.
Speaking outside the court after the sentencing Brian Smith said he had been expecting a harsher sentence, but that no sentence, no matter how long, would bring his son back.
Other supporters of the family voiced anger after leaving the courtroom with many in the crowd calling out "shame on you" as the defence lawyers left the building.
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