A young Whangarei woman who used a kitchen knife to stab her boyfriend -- who later died while shopping -- has been sentenced to three years and two months in jail for manslaughter.
Shaylene Wharerau, 22, was in August found guilty by a jury of manslaughter and appeared for sentencing in the High Court at Whangarei today.
Wharerau stabbed Brandon Panapa Ripia, 17, during a dispute at an Onerahi house on October 30, 2012. He died three weeks later while shopping at The Warehouse in Whangarei after a wound to his heart re-opened and bled.
In court today, Justice John Faire declined a plea by her lawyer Arthur Fairley to consider home detention if a sentence of two years or less was arrived at by the judge.
Crown prosecutor Bernadette O'Connor argued against a non-custodial sentence even if a short prison term was reached.
