KEY POINTS:
A man who beat his partner to death has had his 10-year sentenced reduced to eight years by the Court of Appeal today.
Joseph Kengike was found guilty of the manslaughter of Moana Kapua, the mother of his six children, and sentenced to 10 years in jail at the High Court in Rotorua last July.
The assault happened in the early hours of November 18 2005 after Kengike and Ms Kapua had been out drinking.
Ms Kapua was discovered 30 hours later unconscious with bruising and haemorrhages to her head, a boot print on her abdomen and a fractured eye socket.
She died in Auckland Hospital three days later.
When spoken to by police, Kengike admitted the attack and said he had cleaned the house before leaving for Auckland on the morning of the incident.
At Kengike's sentencing Justice John Priestley highlighted grim domestic violence figures.
He said the police domestic violence website said one woman in New Zealand was killed by her partner or ex-partner every five weeks.
He also cited the New Zealand fifth periodic report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of all Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2002, which reported that half of all homicides of New Zealand women were committed by the woman's partner or ex-partner.
The decision released today from the Court of Appeal by Justices Bruce Robertson, Tony Randerson and Ronald Young, said the case was almost identical with two other manslaughter cases.
In those instances, sentences of eight years and nine years were given - with the latter sentenced for longer because of a previous serious assault on his partner.
The justices said they were not unsympathetic to the judge's view that domestic violence was a serious problem in New Zealand and a "firm response is required from courts in cases...where a sustained violent attack results in a loss of life".
"But consistency of sentencing for similar offending is also an important principle."
Kengike's sentence was reduced from 10 years, with a minimum non-parole period of five years down to eight years, with a minimum non-parole period of four years.
- NZPA
