Sharemilker protects herd

A Hamilton father who beat another man to death in an ill-conceived bid to steal his Ford Fairmont has been jailed for life with a minimum nonparole period of 17 years.

Lance Tangiriki Bush, 49, last month pleaded guilty to charges of murder and aggravated robbery midway through a five-week High Court trial.

It was a murder committed in the presence of his son and co-defendant Lance Ati Jackson Bush, 28, who also stood trial on a charge of murder but admitted a downgraded charge of manslaughter soon after his father pleaded. They were identified as the culprits and charged after the bloody, bludgeoned body of Brent Paul Brown, 45, was found in his bedroom in a boarding house in Poaka Ave, Dinsdale, on August 31, 2016.

Bush Snr returned to the High Court in Hamilton yesterday morning to be sentenced by Justice Rebecca Edwards, who said there had been ‘‘a high level of brutality and callousness’’ in the crime.

Bush Snr had coveted Brown’s Fairmont, which was parked in the driveway of the Poaka Ave house. Brown had evidently taken exception to the loss of his prized car and was consequently subdued in brutal fashion by Bush Snr with the help of his son. A pathologist’s report found the cause of Brown’s death was strangulation, accompanied by blunt force injuries to his head.

Some of his injuries were consistent with the use of weapons, as well as kicks and stomps. Bush Jnr’s sentencing was not able to take place and had to be rescheduled.

A third man involved in the incident, Daniel Tai Houia, 47, was jailed for three years and four months on May 15 on a charge of aggravated robbery.