'It was just a joke', says teen plotter

Sarah Holmes leaving court in January. Picture / Simon Baker

"I love him, I do," said 16-year-old Sarah Louise Holmes of the man who was later found guilty of conspiring with her to murder her father.

Tekoha Samuel Pou, 18, was a drifter when he came into Holmes' life last year.

He moved to Christchurch then into Holmes' mother's garden shed and then, when discovered, into her father's house.

Soon after, according to court records, Holmes, Pou and Ryan James Cullen, also 18, hatched a plot to knock Holmes' father unconscious, stab him and dump his body in the Waimakariri River. While the father was out walking his dogs, the trio booby-trapped his home and then, on his return, attacked him.

The attack ended when Holmes intervened, but not before her father had a broken foot, bruising and cuts. He also said he was left emotionally scarred by the whole ordeal.

Ten days ago in the High Court in Christchurch, Justice Panckhurst took mercy on Pou and Cullen, despite calls from Holmes' father that the court's sentence "show them their actions do have consequences".

Justice Panckhurst imposed an 18-month jail sentence on Cullen, on charges of conspiring to murder and injuring with intent to injure, but allowed the term to be served by home detention.

The 15-month jail sentence on Pou - nicknamed "TK" by Holmes - on the same charges meant he would be free almost immediately because his 10 months in custody on remand were the equivalent of a 20-month jail term. Justice Pankhurst said both boys had intellectual difficulties, and society's interests were best promoted by a merciful sentence.

Holmes, now aged 17, was sentenced in January in the Christchurch District Court to 200 hours' community work and 18 months' supervision for conspiracy to murder. She had earlier pleaded guilty to the charge.

It was the forgiveness of her father, whose name is suppressed, for his daughter that basically saved her from the jail term sought by the police and recommended in a pre-sentence report.

Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders acknowledged the support of Holmes' family during sentencing. "Even allowing for your youth and immaturity, I have trouble understanding what was funny about discussing killing another human being or seeing a plan put in place to seize knives and put broken glass in [the father's] seat with a cushion over it, or the presence of garden implements that could inflict very grievous physical injuries," he said during sentencing.

"Your father doesn't want to see you imprisoned and offers his support. The victim's view must be taken into account but is not determinative of the outcome. The prosecution says prison is required."

The judge said Holmes had no previous court appearance and had faced up to group conferences with her family, went through the restorative justice process and repeatedly apologised to her father.

Following the sentence, Holmes, wiping away tears, walked from the dock to her family sitting in the public gallery and hugged her mother and father.

The court had earlier heard how Holmes had become enraged when her father wanted her to return home from living with her boyfriend of two weeks. She and the boyfriend and another youth decided to murder the father and dump his body in the Waimakariri River.

Sarah Holmes spoke to the Herald on Sunday last year while still under police investigation.

The attack happened on May 8, 2005. It was Mother's Day, two weeks after Holmes had met Pou.

Holmes told the Herald on Sunday last year that Pou had rolled into town with little more than the clothes he wore, and had taken up with a friend of hers.

Pou had left his other girlfriend for Holmes. They talked and liked each other.

She told the Herald on Sunday last year "TK" had stood up for her and she was smitten.

"I respect that," she said at the time. "No man has done that for me before."

They tried being together at her mother's home in New Brighton, she said.

TK slept in the garden shed while her mother was inside. "She thought it was funny I kept going out for cigarettes."

Then TK was discovered and banned from the property. She and TK left for her father's house in Islington.

At the time of the attack her father told the Herald on Sunday his relationship with his daughter was strained. He confirmed he was not around until she was 11 years old.

However, Holmes saw it differently. She was upset about the amount of freedom her father had allowed her.

She said: "He doesn't really care what I do. He just doesn't care about where I'm going, who I'm with and when I'll be back."

And if he did? "If he did I'd tell him it's none of his business because he didn't want to know me when I was little so why should he want to know me now?"

Her father told the Herald on Sunday at the time he was trying to make room in his life for his daughter.

Holmes said that before the attack her father had agreed to allow her and TK to live at his house.

"He said 'youse can live here but don't expect any clothes, any food or even a dollar'."

Her father had a different account. He said in May he wanted TK to "make himself useful" - Holmes, however, told the Herald on Sunday it was "interfering".

"I wanted him to get a job," said her father of Pou.

At the time of the attack, Cullen, the third wheel in the drama, was keen to enjoy the company of his new friends, who had moved across town to live with Holmes' father. A baker's apprentice, he was described by some as a bit slower than most and desperate for friendship.

"Ryan didn't have any friends. I've only known Ryan a few weeks. He's never been in trouble before," Holmes said in May.

The conspiracy plot was hatched on May 8, 2005 when the trio were pondering their future.

Holmes said she and TK were kicking around the house. She said Cullen had come over and had forgotten TK's mobile phone, which he had taken to his own home to charge up. They went to get the phone, and were talking about a discussion she had had with her father that morning. He had wanted board if they were living there.

"The Ryan guy, he goes: 'We should murder your dad'. I thought it was just, like, a joke," said Holmes. "We were just joking around."

According to Holmes, Cullen said: "Wouldn't it be funny if we killed your dad? Then you and TK would have a place to stay."

"We were just laughing and talking," Holmes said. I thought it was just, like, a joke".

Holmes said they then went back to Holmes' father's house, and he wasn't there. Trouble began, she said, when he returned home and told them to leave.

"My dad came home and just said: 'Get the **** out of my house'. Ryan said: 'Don't talk to her like that'. And TK said: 'Treat your daughter with some respect'."

With voices raised and tempers high, events spiralled out of control.

When spoken to by the Herald on Sunday, Holmes said she wished the attack had never happened.

"He had TK by the top and they were on the couch punching each other. I was screaming at them to stop. Ryan picked up the shovel and started whacking him against the leg. He was only whacking him to let TK go. Then Ryan had him pinned up against the wall.

"I was yelling at them but they wouldn't stop. I screamed at my dad to let TK go. TK wasn't doing anything until he got punched in the nose. They stood up for me. They were just sticking up for me. He got all aggressive and shouted 'get out of my house'.

"We weren't going to murder him. We had talked about it but it was just a joke. I was, like, stop, leave it, I don't care about it."

Even though it was a "joke", Holmes admitted the group hid knives around the house.

She said Cullen and TK had even gone to the garage to get the shovel. It emerged in court there were traps and weapons close at hand.

"I was in the house. I didn't go out with them to get the shovel. There were knives around the house. We just put them down. No matter where they were, the policeman said they were planted."

After the violence, the three left the house. Cullen went home, and TK and Holmes met a friend and went back to her house. From there, she says she rang her father to see if he was okay. "I was crying. I was worried."

She went home shortly after to retrieve TK's bandanna. The police were there and she gave her first statement.

The serious nature of the charges began to sink in, just days after.

"I packed my bags ready to go to the police station and mum said 'why are you packing your bags? You don't get your clothes in prison'.

"We chickened out. We weren't going to murder him. I've only known him [TK] two weeks. He's a good guy. He never hurt anyone unless he had to," she said last year.

"We were going to get married. He asked me to marry him. He was going to get a job.

"The last kiss was in the cells. It was in Central. The detective guy was really nice. He promised me I could talk to TK after the statements. He took me into the cells and we had a moment.

"I said 'I love you' and I didn't see him again until he was in court. I used to want to be a police officer. Not now. I hate the cops. Then I wanted to be a hairdresser. But it was too hard.

"I don't know what I'm going to be."

Holmes and her family are now believed to be trying to patch things up. The family declined to be interviewed for this story.

Timeline

* May 8, 2005: Holmes' father suffers a broken leg and head injuries after being hit with a spade by two youths at his Christchurch home.
* May 10, 2005: Sarah Holmes, 16, Tekoha Samuel Royden Pou, 17, and Ryan James Cullen, 18, are charged with conspiracy to murder.
* May 16, 2005: Cullen and Pou released on bail.
* November 14, 2005: Holmes, now 17, pleads guilty in Christchurch Youth Court. She is remanded for sentence in the district court.
* January 13, 2006: Holmes is sentenced to 18 months' supervision and 200 hours of community service. Pou and Cullen await trial in the High Court.

-HERALD ON SUNDAY