‘Callous’ murderer loses appeal
A man who murdered and sexually violated a 69-year-old in her home will remain in prison indefinitely.
Jaden Stroobant, then 19, stomped on the head of Cun Xiu Tian and sexually violated her while she lay dying on January 15, 2016.
Stroobant was sentenced in May 2017 to life imprisonment, with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years, after he pleaded guilty to the murder.
He also admitted two charges of sexually violating Tian, who was his neighbour in Te Atatu¯ Peninsula, and for each he was sentenced to preventive detention with a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Health assessors described Stroobant as being callous, having no remorse, empathy or insight into his offending.
He appealed the sentence of preventive detention only, with his lawyer Emma Priest arguing it was ‘‘manifestly excessive’’.
Priest said Stroobant was relatively young, had no pattern of serious offending, and the court had not taken into account his rehabilitation prospects, drug use and guilty plea.
The court had also erred in finding Stroobant had not addressed the cause of his offending, she argued. In a decision handed down on February 12, the Court of Appeal dismissed Stroobant’s bid.
Justice Brendan Brown in its decision said that although Stroobant did not have a criminal record of serious offending, the court was allowed to take into account ‘‘numerous records’’ of alleged offending.
A ‘‘propensity for violent behaviour’’ had been established, he said.
The purpose of preventive detention was to safeguard the community, Justice Brown said.
Stroobant might have been only 19 when he committed the offending, but psychiatrists considered him at high risk of reoffending, and that this was unlikely to change without Stroobant’s ‘‘active engagement’’, he said. Preventive detention was needed to ensure Stroobant accepted responsibility for, and gained insight into, his actions and to foster cooperation with treatment and rehabilitation, he said.
‘‘We therefore consider that the sentence of preventive detention imposed by [Justice Graham Lang] was the appropriate course in these circumstances.’’