Sean McKinnon’s sisters Mary, left, and Emmeline talk to media outside the High Court at Hamilton after sentencing. Video / Belinda Feek
A man who fatally shot an Australian surfer in his campervan at Raglan has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 15 and a half years.
Mark Ronald Garson, 24, entered unexpected guilty pleas in October after being due to stand trial in November for the murder of Sean McKinnon and threatening to kill his partner Bianca Buckley.
Garson approached them in their campervan during the early hours of August 16 last year.
The couple had hired the campervan and driven to Raglan, deciding to spend the night parked at the gorge, which has panoramic views of the Tasman Sea.
During the early hours they were woken by banging on the window.
Some of McKinnon's family watched this morning's proceedings via audio-visual link, while his sisters Emmeline and Mary made the journey over the Tasman to look Garson in the eye and share their grief in the courtroom.
Buckley was the first to share her statement in the High Court at Hamilton this morning, startling Garson - who would go on to wipe tears from his face and bend over in grief - as she turned part-way through to go through the horrific details from that night.
Bianca Buckley and Sean McKinnon. Photo / File
She told him how they heard him knocking on the side, and all around the caravan, saying "I know you're in there".
Sean McKinnon's family talk to media outside the Hamilton District Court after their brother was killed. From left, sister Emmeline, brother Lachlan and sister Mary McKinnon. Photo / Mike Scott
Garson then left and Buckley began running back towards Raglan along the side of the cliff, hoping that he wouldn't return.
She told Garson that what he did "shocked the world" with a series of events that not even a director of a horror movie could script.
Garson had destroyed her life and her dream with McKinnon which were going to include a wedding and eventually children.
She said neither she nor her family were unaccustomed to death, their father died when Sean was 20. But at least the family was by his side when he died, she said.
"I would give anything to see him … lie next to him in the sunshine.
"He belonged to us .. our brother, our uncle, our son, and he was important."
Sean McKinnon. Photo / Supplied
His other sister, Jess, speaking via audio visual link, said her brother was never judgmental, and was full of life.
"Sean's death is on my mind constantly throughout the day and when I go to sleep. I can't even get to sleep.
"My heart feels like it has been breaking on a daily basis."
His death had affected her ability to socialise, be a parent and also her relationships.
Lachlan, Sean's brother, said they were more than brothers, "we were best mates".
His death had also had a "devastating effect on my everyday life."
His thoughts are consumed with grief, but soon after followed by hate and the question, "why, why?'.
"Sean was a kind, caring, life of the party guy. He was generous to a fault."
'Senseless act'
Garson's lawyer Charles Bean said the shooting wasn't a hate crime or a crime of vengeance, and his client was still baffled to this day as to why he pulled the trigger.
He said he was in Raglan with a loaded shotgun to shoot himself.
"He had made an arrangement for his friend to kill him that evening. We know that how Mark Garson came stuck in Raglan … is that while consuming methamphetamine, his friend had gone back to their motor vehicle and left.
"It doesn't excuse but provides a context unlike other acts like this.
Mark Ronald Garson approached the campervan during the early hours of August 16, last year, and fatally shot surfer Sean McKinnon. Photo / Belinda Feek
"Mark Garson didn't pick up a firearm with any plan. He didn't source it to commit a robbery.
"This gun was sourced for Mark Garson to kill himself."
Bean said his client was binging on methamphetamine and suffering from depression at the time.
He had since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"It doesn't excuse but it certainly explains why, in the context of this senseless act, there was a firearm in Raglan that night."
Bean said there was nothing that either he or his client could say that "could diminish the genuine tragedy of what occurred here".
As for Garson's history, by the age of 12 he was addicted to cannabis and aged 15 he was becoming addicted to methamphetamine.
He couldn't recall, from age 20, when he didn't have addiction issues, and by 24 "he was suffering his own delusions ... in the weeks leading up to this took multiple attempts on his own life".
His client had written letters of apology but knew that he was unlikely ever to receive forgiveness from the family.
As for the delay in entering a plea, he said Garson wasn't mentally well enough to take instructions from until 2020 and then had his appointments repeatedly put off until finally seeing a specialist in August, and a report received by Bean in September.
The earliest he could get to court to enter a guilty plea was October 7.
He urged the judge to hand down a minimum non-parole period of 10 years.
'Makes for desperately sad reading'
Justice Christine Gordon said she was struck by the victim impact statements, including the bond Buckley had with McKinnon.
"She had found the person she was going to be with for the rest of her life."
The close bond McKinnon's family had was also evident, she said.
They then walked into the bush and smoked more cannabis and methamphetamine.
"You gave your friend the firearm and asked him to shoot you … he declined. He put [firearm] down and made an excuse to go back to the car and left you on the road side."
Garson then walked back to the gorge and began knocking on the campervan door.
Where to get help
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
