Sex worker’s death has Supreme Court considering if a murderer should always get life

If Kaine Van Hemert had been hospitalised for his mental health and under supervision, he would not have committed a fatal and brutal attack on a sex worker, the Supreme Court has been told.

His legal team is arguing he should have a sentence less than the life ordinarily imposed for murder.

Van Hemert killed 34-year-old sex worker Bella Te Pania in the early hours of December 31, 2019, after suffering a psychotic breakdown. He was given a finite sentence of 10 years’ jail, with a minimum of six years and eight months. The Court of Appeal quashed the sentence and a life sentence with a minimum of 11 1⁄2 years was imposed.

Van Hemert’s lawyer, James Rapley KC, is now asking for the Supreme Court to quash the new sentence and return to the original one.

Van Hemert was 42 at the time of the murder and had been treated for psychiatric issues three times. He suffers from bipolar affective disorder, which was aggravated by his use of alcohol and illicit drugs. In December 2019, he became distressed on finding his former partner had a new relationship. He began using alcohol and cannabis, and five days later health authorities were called. He was assessed to be acutely psychotic with delusions, disorders of perception and paranoia, and was committed for psychiatric assessment.

However, he was allowed to sleep at home one more night. He woke, felt panicky, took all his medication at once and went to find a sex worker to ‘‘level the playing field’’ against his ex-partner.

A review found proper procedures were not followed on the night the delusional and paranoid Van Hemert carried out the murder ‘‘in a rage’’.