Emotions raw at man’s sentencing

Tears flow as brother jailed for killing his sister in confrontation over caravan

Emotions ran raw with the Crown prosecutor and judge choking up during a manslaughter sentencing in the High Court at Rotorua yesterday. Both called Adrian Ngamotu’s case a tragic one that had divided family.

Ngamotu, 55, had earlier pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his sister Lisa-Anne Ngamotu at Acacia Bay, Taupo, on May 8 last year.

Lisa-Anne was injured after Ngamotu backed into a caravan she and her son were attempting to im- mobilise by placing it on blocks, sending it swinging around, striking her before pinning her to the ground.

She died in Waikato Hospital during surgery for her extensive injuries.

Justice Anne Hinton sentenced him to three years and nine months’ jail and disqualified him from driving for three years after his release.

Four harrowing victim impact statements were read to the court, two by prosecutor Chris Macklin.

There was emotion in his voice as he read one from Lisa-Anne’s son, Keanu Ngamotu, which told of his heart being shattered into a million pieces by her death and the anguish of seeing Ngamotu cause her injuries in front of him and his little sister.

“I lost my heart, my backbone that day,” Macklin read.

Sobbing, Lisa-Anne’s partner, Chopper Martin, faced the dock and told Ngamotu “my partner paid your debts with her life, you need to take ownership of what you did and the precious life you took from us”.

Justice Hinton said Ngamotu’s aim appeared to have been to intimidate and frighten, not harm, his sister.

The judge said it began with an argument over a caravan on family land which Ngamotu believed he was the rightful owner of.

“There was an angry confrontation between you, you reversed your car towards the caravan with tragic consequences,” the judge said.