Judge: The human skull is most fragile

The judge in a manslaughter case has warned that too many people seem to have a ‘‘cartoon world’’ view of violence.

They seemed to think people could be hit or dropped to the ground and they could just get up, Justice Stephen Kos said.

But the human skull was remarkably fragile, and it was high time that was more widely appreciated, he said yesterday while sentencing former bar manager Kevin King for the manslaughter of Blenheim man Matthew Heagney, 24, in August 2009.

Mr Heagney’s head hit the pavement, causing his death, when King, 52, and two other staff removed him from Blenheim’s Shapeshifters Bar.

In 2010, King was found guilty of manslaughter, but that conviction was quashed on appeal and a retrial was held in the High Court at Wellington last month. King changed his plea to guilty after details of the indictment were altered so it was no longer alleged Mr Heagney died as a result of assault but, instead, the way King let go of him outside.

Justice Kos sentenced King to 12 months home detention, reduced by 39 days to take into account the time King spent on home detention before his appeal. He had also been sentenced to 12 months home detention after the first trial.

The judge said that at 2.43am Heagney was refused entry to Shapeshifters but managed to slip past door staff. When doorman Cameron Wright-Munro tapped him on the shoulder, intending to trespass him, Mr Heagney reacted and took hold of Mr Wright-Munro. Knowing the doorman was inexperienced, King approached Mr Heagney from behind, put his arm around his neck and restrained him with a sleeper hold.

King, Wright-Munro and another staff member carried Mr Heagney outside. Closed-circuit TV images were unclear on how King came to release him, but the back of Mr Heagney’s head hit the footpath, causing his death, Justice Kos said.

King had no previous convictions, and his pre-sentence report showed he was extremely remorseful.

In a family-impact statement, Mr Heagney’s father, Pat, said the family would never forgive King for what he had done to his son, who had joined, and was to take over, the family transport firm.