Teen gets at least 11 years in jail for campground murder
The teenager who killed a former Royal Air Force serviceman at a remote Taranaki campground has been sentenced to life and must spend at least 11 years in jail.
Justice Williamson-atkinson, 17, was found guilty of murdering Adrian Humphreys after a three-week trial in November 2023 and sentenced in the High Court at New Plymouth yesterday.
Justice Francis Cooke handed down life imprisonment for Humphreys’ murder, with a minimum non-parole of 11 years.
Williamson-atkinson, who had called out “I didn’t do it” when called into the court, also received a one-year sentence for burglary, to be served concurrently.
In a statement following the sentencing, Detective Senior Sergeant Drew Bennett said no outcome would bring Humphreys back, but police hoped the sentence would allow his family to close this chapter of the process.
“Adrian’s family, friends and work colleagues were important to him, and we know his loss will continue to be keenly felt,” he said.
Bennett said Humphrey’s sister Taresa Keatley, who travelled from the UK for the trial, had represented her family with grace and dignity during what was “a harrowing 22 months for them”.
He also paid tribute to the Tāngarākau community, which was “incredibly supportive” during the extended investigation and acknowledged the hard work of the investigators and trial team.
Williamson-atkinson killed Humphreys on May 7, 2022, at the Bushlands Campground in the remote east Taranaki settlement of Tāngarākau.
He was motivated by a desire to steal Humphreys’ car and escape from a programme for troubled youth that was staying at the campground.
Humphreys, who was originally from the United Kingdom but lived in Rotorua at the time of his death, suffered blunt force trauma to his face and was stabbed five times in the torso with a knife Williamson-atkinson had taken from the campground kitchen.
Williamson-atkinson’s defence team unsuccessfully argued Humphreys was not killed by their client, rather by another youth on the programme.
At the beginning of the trial the court heard how Humphreys had grown increasingly excited about taking his new camper on its first trip in the weeks leading up to his death.
Having purchased it just a month prior, he had had spent countless hours modifying it, adding his personal touches and getting it ready for the rugged terrain of back country Taranaki.
However, on his first night in the camper he was attacked while he lay in his sleeping bag, stumbling outside in the middle of the night to die face down in the grass.
At the end of the trial, a statement was issued by police on behalf of Humphreys’ sister.
In it, Keatley said her brother was a kind and loving person who lived life to the full.
“On behalf of my parents and myself I would like to thank Detective Senior Sergeant Drew Bennett and his team, together with the Crown Counsel for their diligence in bringing the person responsible for Adrian’s death to court,” she said.