KEY POINTS:
One of four men who kidnapped the wife of a wealthy Auckland businessman last year and demanded a $1 million ransom has had his jail term reduced by more than four years, almost half of the original sentence.
Chang Song Li, Zuping Zhou, Ziang Kwan Chen and Wanze Gui snatched Qing Zhao, 43, from her Howick home in March last year.
They attacked Qing's elderly parents during the kidnapping and threatened her husband with a gun and knife.
Li, Zhou and Chen were sentenced to 10 years' jail in Manukau District Court in July last year for kidnapping and aggravated burglary. Gui was later sentenced to 13 years.
Zhou appealed against his sentence in the Court of Appeal last month.
His lawyer Peter Kaye said the sentence was inappropriate because the judge had not given enough weight to Zhou's age, his assistance with the police investigation, his guilty plea and role in the kidnapping.
Zhou was 19, while the other three were in their late 20s or early 30s. The Court of Appeal agreed that Zhou's sentence was too severe.
It said the most significant issue was his assistance to police, which included testifying at Gui's trial, despite receiving threats from Gui to himself and his family in China.
The court upheld Zhou's appeal and shortened his sentence to 5 years.
Li also lodged an appeal with the court last month, but it was dismissed. His lawyer, Steve Bonnar, said the starting point Judge Blackie set for sentencing Li of 13 to 14 years was excessive.
The Court of Appeal dismissed Li's appeal because the starting point could have taken into account the aggravated burglary charge and therefore it was not excessive.
Mrs Zhao, also known as Kelly, was held for 20 hours, bound and gagged with her eyes taped, in a cupboard at a rented house in Point England.
She was released in an industrial area of Onehunga when the kidnappers realised the police were involved and they were not going to be paid a ransom.
- NZPA
