KEY POINTS:
The Northland gang member who admitted the brutal murder of his teenager girlfriend last year has been jailed for at least 17 years.
Nathan Charles Fenton, 31, was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years when he appeared in the High Court in Whangarei today.
He was sentenced for the murder of his girlfriend Mairina Dunn, 17, last August. He admitted the charge at the beginning of what was to have been a depositions hearing last month.
Justice Tony Randerson said the murder had devastated the victim's mother and family.
Her mother had been particularly proud of her daughter when she completed a course at Burnham Military Camp and when she learnt she had formed a relationship with Fenton she warned him not to harm her. That was ignored, the judge said.
She was a defenceless 17-year-old who pleaded with Fenton to spare her life during the attack, which was fuelled by alcohol and drugs.
Fenton's former girlfriend Eileen Verna Everitt was sentenced to 12 months prison. She earlier pleaded guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact.
Security was tight at the court with the public gallery behind the dock roped off so no one could sit behind Fenton.
Six uniformed police and four security guards were in the court.
Security was also high outside the court as members of the public were searched before being allowed entry.
As well as the murder charge, Fenton had earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of presenting a firearm at three people who witnessed the prolonged attack at 2 Holmes Avenue in Whangarei, one charge of assaulting a man before he killed Ms Dunn and charges of unlawfully taking a BMW and theft of camping gear and clothes.
Ms Dunn was killed after Fenton arrived at the house about 3am on August 27 and accused a man of sleeping with Ms Dunn.
He assaulted the other man, dragged Ms Dunn from her bed and confronted her with the same allegation, which she denied.
He then "brutally assaulted" her, beating her all over her body with a shotgun for 90 minutes.
During the attack Fenton pointed the shotgun at three witnesses and threatened them, telling them not to say anything to police.
The police summary of facts said Ms Dunn most likely would have died as a result of massive head injuries or a punctured lung.
Fenton went on the run and was not caught for 11 days.
During this time he met Everitt and they stayed on the loose for several days before they were caught at Otamure Bay in Northland on September 7.
- NZPA
