Man who stabbed teen in the back denied parole

Daniel Ethan Smith arrives at the Oamaru District Court. Photo / File / Darryl May

A man who was charged with manslaughter after he fatally stabbed a 16-year-old boy three times in the back was denied parole today.

Daniel Ethan Smith, now 20, was also 16 when he fatally stabbed William Lewis three times in the back during an altercation in Oamaru on April 1, 2010.

He was convicted of murder in 2011 and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years before parole.

Smith's conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal last year and Smith was then found guilty of manslaughter at a new trial.

On August 29, he was sentenced in the High Court at Timaru to five years and nine months' jail for manslaughter.

The manslaughter verdict, then the sentence, drew outrage and anger from the victim's family and friends, Today, the Parole Board announced Smith had been declined parole as he still posed an undue risk to the safety of the community.

The board said it would release the reasons for its decision in the next few days.

Smith would be seen by the Parole Board again in a year.