KEY POINTS:
Convicted killer Bruce Emery's bid to get out of jail to spend Christmas with his family may not be over.
Emery failed today to be released on bail after he was found guilty of the manslaughter of a teenage tagger last week.
However, his lawyer Chris Comeskey said a decision on an appeal of today's decision by Justice Hugh Williams in the High Court in Auckland had yet to be decided.
He said if Emery decided to appeal, papers could be filed today and it was possible the Court of Appeal could hear an application on Friday.
In the High Court last week Emery was found not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Pihema Cameron, 15, after he caught him tagging his home in Manurewa last January.
He armed himself with a knife and chased Pihema and a relative for more than 300 metres before Pihema was stabbed in the heart and died within two or three minutes.
Emery argued he took the knife for self-defence and Pihema fell onto the knife.
Outside the court today, Mr Comeskey said Emery's wife and children would find Christmas very difficult without him.
"They truly suffer a huge penalty. This is a family who is quiet, almost introverted. They are a very insular family unit and they will find it very, very difficult. They loved their father a lot and they are hurting because he is not with them."
He said Emery and his family were also acutely aware that the Cameron family would have an empty seat at the table this Christmas.
"It is extremely sad for them. Unlike Mr Emery their suffering will go on basically forever. Mr Emery will at some stage be free again."
He said Emery was the sole worker in his upholstery business and was going through an economic downturn before the trial.
Without his business income, the family would find it very difficult.
Mr Comeskey said Emery had paid his legal fees but he was unsure how the family would survive financially.
- NZPA
