School principal killer's jail time extended

Isaiah Tai. Photo / Christine Cornege

The man convicted of killing Bay of Plenty school principal and regional councillor Hawea Vercoe has had his jail sentence almost doubled.

Isaiah Johnson Richard Tai, an orchard worker, pleaded guilty to Mr Vercoe's manslaughter and was in June sentenced at the High Court in Rotorua to two years and 10 months' prison.

Tai, who was 21 at the time, punched Mr Vercoe, causing him to fall and hit his head, after an argument outside a Whakatane bar on November 22 last year.

As Mr Vercoe lay unconscious on the ground, Tai kicked him in the head.

In September, Solicitor General David Collins appealed the sentence, saying it was "manifestly inadequate".

The attack was intentional, unprovoked and gratuitous, and Tai showed no remorse toward the man he had rendered defenceless, he said.

In a Court of Appeal decision released today, Justices Robert Chambers, Terence Arnold and Rhys Harrison said sentencing judge Justice Judith Potter erred when adopting a starting point of four years six months.

A starting point of seven years was more appropriate and "could not have been challenged", they said.

They quashed the original sentence, replacing it with one of four years and six months' prison.

"We are satisfied that it is the lowest sentence that could reasonably be sanctioned in all the circumstances of this case."

The Vercoe family had campaigned for an increase in Tai's prison time, collecting 400 signatures on a petition calling for the sentence to be appealed.

Mr Vercoe's aunt, Rihi Vercoe, said a sentence of 20 years should be mandatory for taking a person's life. The original sentence cheapened the life of an aspiring Maori leader and father of six, she said.

- NZPA