Nine-year sentence not enough, says kidnapped girl's father

Cina Ma and kidnapper Deqiong Deng. Photos / NZH

The father of a five-year-old girl abducted and held for five days on Auckland's North Shore last year is disappointed at the kidnapper's nine year jail sentence.

Deqiong Deng, 26, was jailed for nine years, with a minimum non-parole period of 5-1/2 years, when sentenced in the High Court in Auckland today.

The financially-stricken real estate agent had previously admitted kidnapping Cina Ma, also known as Xin Xin, in the North Shore suburb of Rothesay Bay in July last year.

Deng admitted snatching her from her front yard and then kept her bound and gagged in a walk-in wardrobe with the windows blacked out for five days while demanding a $500,000 ransom.

Cina's father Mark Ma told a media conference today that the sentence was too lenient.

"To be honest, I feel it's not hard enough on a person who has done this crime to a young daughter," he said.

"I was expecting more than nine years. I was a little bit disappointed today."

Crown prosecutor Simon Moore asked for a starting point for the sentence close to the maximum of 14 years, while Deng's lawyer Ron Mansfield sought a starting point of 10-12 years.

Justice Judith Potter settled on a starting point of 12-1/2 years but reduced the sentence to nine years taking into account Deng's guilty plea, his expressions of remorse and his previous faultless record.

The court was told that Deng demanded a ransom from Cina's parents because he owed $1 million on two houses he was developing and $200,000 to his parents in China.

Deng stole licence plates from a silver Nissan in Ponsonby a few days before the kidnapping and hired a similar car using the driver's licence of an associate no longer in New Zealand.

He also had his girlfriend buy a Sim card and a mobile phone shortly before the crime, a phone he would later use to make ransom demands to the child's parents.

On July 14 he parked his car outside the girl's house. Wearing a balaclava, he grabbed her when she became separated from two playmates, bundled her into the car and drove to a new but unoccupied house 200m away.

There he put her in a walk-in wardrobe next to a room which had the windows blacked out. He bound her arms and wrists and left her with bread, water and a bucket to use as a toilet.

Deng visited her once or twice a day from that point while he worked on his ransom demand. The next day he gagged the girl when he heard her crying.

Cina was found at the home on July 18 following an extensive police investigation. Deng was arrested later that day.

Justice Potter said victim impact statements showed Cina had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and had been held back a year in school.

Her parents and family had been so shocked that they left the country.

Justice Potter said Deng's money troubles might be reasons for his crime but they were not mitigating factors.

"This was serious criminal offending. It was a cowardly and cruel act," she said.

"It may be that Mr Deng was obsessed by his financial situation but he did not give a single thought to the impact of his crime."

Cina's grandfather Chang Ma bowed at the media conference to thank police, the Government, media and all who cared about Cina's welfare during her ordeal.

He also wanted to rebut rumours during the ordeal that Deng knew the Ma family.

" We don't know him and we have no business association with him."

Police investigation head Superintendent Mike Bush said police were determined to ensure that anyone contemplating this type of offence would be caught and held fully accountable.

- NZPA