Parole hearing 'another kick in the teeth'

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

"Another kick in the teeth for the family", is how the father of teenager William Lewis has described a parole hearing for his son's killer.

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

Convicted of manslaughter at a retrial in July, his reduced sentence imposed on August 29 meant he was eligible to apply for parole immediately.

William's father will appear before a Parole Board hearing for victims of Smith's crime in Wellington on October 13 to oppose parole.

Peter Lewis, accompanied by William's stepbrother Jacob, would be at the hearing.

He was still angry at the manslaughter verdict and Smith's reduced sentence, and would be at the hearing to oppose any parole, he said.

"He [Smith] has shown no remorse, but I can guarantee it will be trotted out now [at the hearing]. The defence lawyers will be clipping the ticket, getting more money," he said.

Mr Lewis, along with other members of the family, have attended all the hearings, including when Smith was arrested and first appeared in Oamaru.

He estimates the number of hearings has "easily been in the 20s".

William's mother, Jenny Brokenshire, said yesterday from Timaru she and her husband Al would be going to Wellington for the hearing. Grandparents Owen and Lynette Dorsey, of Oamaru, would be lodging written submissions.

They had been notified of the hearing because they had registered an interest as victims of the killing.

The family would be opposing parole.

"To my knowledge, he [Smith] has not done any of the self-help he is supposed to qualify for release," she said.

Neither the Parole Board nor the Corrections Department would say when Smith would appear before the board.

After first being convicted in 2011 of murder, Smith was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 10 years before parole.

His conviction was overturned by the Appeal Court 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.

Taking into account the time served from when he was arrested until the murder conviction, Smith is eligible for parole. If he serves the full sentence, he should be free about the end of next year.

The manslaughter verdict, then the sentence, drew outrage and anger from the victim's family and friends, some of whom told Justice Rachel Dunningham that Smith would kill again.