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A Mongols MC gang member found guilty of manslaughter after the death of a Head Hunters associate at a New Year’s Eve party has today been jailed for five-and-a-half years.
The trio all denied murder, saying they had nothing to do with 46-year-old Wayman’s death and raised “serious questions” over his cause of death.
Defence lawyers picked holes in the account of a key Crown witness – who has name suppression - telling the jury the testimony had been unreliable and littered with inconsistencies and lies.
The court heard that Wayman had existing health conditions, including an enlarged heart from methamphetamine use.
Elizabeth Sheed, Lyndon Sheed and Mitchell Carston during their trial in the High Court at Christchurch. Photo / Kurt Bayer
Today, when Sheed was sentenced, Wayman’s mother Adele told the court that her family will never come to terms with his death.
Her son grew up with many health and cognitive challenges and was someone who always wanted to be liked and part of a group.
Christchurch man Kane Wayman, 46, died on January 1 last year. Photo / Supplied
She remembered him as a kind, loving and much-loved son, brother and father.
“He didn’t deserve to be taken in the way he was taken from us,” she said.
When he was attacked, others were there who were meant to be his friends, the grieving mother said, and she wished some of them had had the “gumption” to step in.
She knows that Wayman would’ve stepped in if the shoe was on the other foot – and told Sheed that whatever sentence he gets would never be enough.
Police at the Mongol motorcycle gang headquarters near Burnham, Christchurch, in connection with the death of gang member Kane Wayman on January 1, 2021. Photo / Kurt Bayer
Crown prosecutor Jade Lancaster said there were three primary aggravating factors to take into account when sentencing Sheed.
She pointed to the attacks to Wayman’s head, which began with a king-hit punch, and the fact there were “multiple attackers”, with the Crown saying there were three men involved.
The final factor, the Crown says, was that Sheed – who they submitted said intended to inflict serious injury – was in a position of authority and influence over others in the gang.
But instead of de-escalating the situation, he did the exact opposite, firstly because Wayman had “disrespected” the Mongols that night, and Sheed had wanted to step in and help his fellow gang members.
In sentencing Sheed today, Justice Cameron Mander said Wayman had been the victim of an “act of senseless violence”.
Sheed’s risk of harm to others has been assessed as high, the court was told, but a pre-sentence report viewed his risk of re-offending as being “moderate”.
During the trial, the key Crown witness told of seeing Wayman, who the court heard had been drunk and “acting out” while disrespecting the Mongols and speaking about other local gangs, being assaulted in the early hours of New Year’s Day last year.
They claimed Wayman was punched, kicked and stomped by Lyndon Sheed, Carston and a third man known only as a “curly-haired guy” who has never been identified, while Wayman’s ex-lover Liz Sheed egged his attackers on. The three accused all denied being involved at all.
DNA samples taken from Wayman’s bloodied T-shirt would later match Lyndon Sheed and two “unknown individuals”.
Lyndon Sheed’s lawyer Christopher Lange earlier told the jury the key Crown witness should not be believed, especially casting doubt on their story about how Wayman was allegedly struck to the ground with a “king hit” by his client.
The trial heard how Wayman had brought a friend along to the New Year’s Eve party where they had been having a good time, with loud music, drinking, dancing, playing pool, a spa bath and fireworks.
Wayman had been in “some kind of relationship” with Liz Sheed late in 2020 and was in love with her, the court heard earlier.
Kane Wayman's Mercedes being towed from Christchurch Hospital on January 1, 2021. Photo / Kurt Bayer
However, she had broken it off, and a few weeks before the party had allegedly messaged multiple people to say Wayman was “causing s***”, that she wanted him dealt to, and wanted his Mercedes car.
The witness, who has name suppression, found the Mongols gang members to have been well-mannered and a “decent set of guys” during the night.
But they told the jury how Wayman was getting “drunker and drunker” as the evening progressed, and told him to “stop being a dick”.
Tension was starting to build, with Wayman in a bad mood and “acting out”.
After drinking and reportedly taking drugs, he began disrespecting the Mongols and referring to other local gangs.
Later in the night, the Crown’s key witness said they heard male voices shouting outside and ventured out to see a “curly-haired guy” following Wayman and saying he had been “a f****** nuisance all night”.
The “curly-haired guy” started throwing punches at Wayman, who was trying to defend himself and soon started to bleed from his nose, the witness said.
The witness said Lyndon Sheed came out and “king hit” Wayman, who fell straight to the ground.
“Giving someone a hiding is something different to that ... I’ve never seen that s*** in my whole entire life. The aggressiveness was just something else. It was pure hate,” the witness said.
Afterwards, the witness claimed they heard Lyndon Sheed saying Wayman had “deserved” it.
As they were leaving the gang pad, the witness claimed the attackers told them to drive Wayman’s body off a cliff and was warned, “Hear nothing, see nothing”.
Wayman got to hospital but at 9.02am on New Year’s Day last year, was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem examination found Wayman’s cause of death was blunt force head and neck injuries on the background of an enlarged heart from methamphetamine use, the court heard.
