Waihi woman Sophie Skye jailed for ‘vigilante justice’ on young father Joshua Terrey

After ensuring a young father was held at a house under the ruse of getting drugs, Sophie Skye turned up with baseball bat and launched a “brutal” 23-minute attack under the belief he was responsible for breaking into her storage container.

Although she freed him after whacking him around the body, Joshua Terrey turned up dead in a community garden 12 hours later.

While Skye and her co-offenders were not charged over his death, they were in relation to Terrey’s kidnapping, assault and robbery which saw the Waihi woman sent to jail for two years and two months by Judge Philip Crayton in the Hamilton District Court recently.

Joshua Terrey pictured with his mother, Lyn Hartnett, and father, Peter Terrey. The three people responsible for his 2019 kidnapping and assault have now all been dealt with by the court.

Skye pleaded guilty to her charges on the first day of her Judge Alone Trial in March, while her two co-offenders, father and daughter, Patrick Cousins, 62, and Akasha Kaihana-King, 26, were both sentenced to 10 months’ home detention on charges of kidnapping, assault with a weapon and demands to steal during separate hearings in November last year.

Through her counsel, Bill Nabney, Skye expressed remorse and a wish to attend a restorative justice conference with Terrey’s family, who were all in the packed court room to hear her fate, along with Skye’s family and friends.

‘It consumes me every day’

Skye’s sentencing means Terrey’s family finally has some closure, five years after his death, even if it’s not the sort of closure they wanted.

When approached by NZME, the family said they turned down Skye’s request to meet.

“As Josh’s family, we are happy that home detention was not an option,” spokesperson Ngapania Anderson said.

“We feel that the restorative justice offered by Sophie was insincere, not genuine sympathy or remorse.”

They say they are unhappy no one has been held to account for his death.

“We feel that the charges laid by police fell short of holding (anyone) accountable for what truly happened that night.”

In his victim impact statement, Terrey’s father, Peter, said the family only wanted one thing from Skye - “the truth so that we can get some closure”.

He believed his son had been set up and the group got the wrong guy.

“It consumes me every day.”

‘You better f***ing sort it out’

Skye had a business in Hamilton, a leased yard space that held a container storing tools and equipment, which was broken into in September 2019.

Cousins worked for her part-time and had his tools in there, too.

Despite police investigating, Skye believed Terrey was responsible and asked her co-offenders to let her know when they next heard from him.

On November 30, 2019, Terrey was living with his parents in Whakatane, and received a phone call from his son who asked to see him, so he headed to Hamilton.

However, when there he also arranged with Kaihana-King to source some meth.

Joshua Terrey's family outside the Hamilton District Court in November last year, from left, his father, Peter Terrey, sisters Gypsy and Ngapania Anderson, son, Kee-lin, 17, daughter, Myah, and Cindy Terrey. Photo / Belinda Feek.

Judge Crayton said Kaihana-King arranged for him to meet at her house.

Once he was on his way she texted Cousins saying Terrey was almost there, and Cousins texted Skye saying, “are you far away, he might lose interest, he’s on his way from Greenwood St”.

At 12.39am, Terrey arrived at Kaihana-King’s house and she texted her father saying, “he’s here”.

Cousins then texted Skye to say the same, and she responded “on my way make sure car empty”.

The victim was directed into the garage and Skye arrived at 12.49am armed with a baseball bat and immediately confronted Terrey about the burglary.

“You attacked him using the baseball bat, multiple times, causing heavy bruising to his arms, legs, back, and torso,” the judge said. “He was told to empty his pockets.”

He had car keys, a wallet, and cellphone.

She looked through his wallet - he had no money.

“You told him he better, ‘f***ing sort it out, you can pay off some money each week as f***ing payback for the tools”.

His keys, belonging to his parent’s car, and cellphone were taken from him.

He was freed at 1.08am, 23 minutes after the attack began, fleeing on foot through residential properties before knocking on the door of a relative of an associate, saying he’d been beaten and he needed a place to hide.

He was told to leave.

What occurred over the next 12 hours was not known but he was found dead in a garden of the Western Community Centre on Hyde Ave at 1.30pm.

‘Ruthless course of vigilante justice’

Crown solicitor Jacinda Hamilton labelled the crime as a “highly pre-meditated and ruthless course of vigilante justice”.

“The reality is, sir, whether [defence counsel Bill Nabney] takes issue with it or not, that’s exactly what it was.

“This woman, effectively through others, lured Mr Terrey to an address.

Joshua Terrey's family, including his father Peter Terry, far right, outside the Hamilton District Court after the sentencing of Akasha Kaihana-King in November last year. Photo / Belinda Feek

“They encouraged him to remain under a false pretense. She quickly made her way there and in doing so she had armed herself with a weapon.

Sky had told a pre-sentence report writer the weapon was to protect herself, but Hamilton said the “only person needing protection that night was Mr Terrey and he did not get it”.

“What he got instead was a pre-meditated and frankly ruthless assault. It occurred over some 30 minutes and clearly impacted on him in a very significant way.”

‘She didn’t lure him there’

Much was made over the word “lure” during the sentencing.

Nabney said the use of that word in the summary of facts was the main reason why her client retained her not guilty plea and only changed it once the crown agreed to make the slight amendment.

“Mrs Hamilton used this phrase of vigilante justice and luring him to address and I’ve made the point.

“Mr Terrey travelled to Hamilton for personal reasons. It was nothing to do with either the defendant or co-defendants and Mr Terrey then contacted a co-defendent to source meth.

“Again, that can’t be anything to do with Ms Skye.”

Skye’s told that he’s already on his way and that proved that the concept of “luring” and pre-meditation “doesn’t exist”, he said.

“Mr Terrey was there originally but it wasn’t at Miss Skye’s behest that he be kept there. The two co-defendants took it upon themselves to do that, that’s my point,” he said.

She had “expressed true remorse” and was keen to meet the victim’s family and “talk with them about what was going through her mind that night”.

“She would like to be able to do Restorative Justice because she obviously never anticipated what was going to be the final outcome.

“That was never anticipated, in fact just the opposite.

“At the end ... the encouragement he was given by Miss Skye was to go and either get the tools and equipment back or to get the money to pay her back for them.”

‘You had a focus on Mr Terrey’

Judge Crayton said whatever the reason for Terrey’s visit it had been prearranged between Skye and her co-offenders that should he make contact, she should contacted.

“What is clear from the concessions made, is that while you may not have directed your co-def to get the victim to that address ... you had a focus on Mr Terrey and you had communicated to your co-def that should they come across him, should they be in contact with him, to let you know.

“That interest was not benign as is clear from the balance of the summary of facts.”

Once he was there, she wanted to confront Terrey and that concept was thought through, he said.

She also took a baseball bat, and the only “possible reason to have that there was to use as an instrument of violence”.

“That is utterly clear immediately it was used to mete out violence to [Terrey]. This was plain and simple a considered, violent, and vigilante action.

“You took the law into your own hands.

“There was significant violence and the use of a weapon. There were multiple strikes.”

Judge Crayton said Terrey was also outnumbered and isolated, which meant he was also vulnerable.

The judge didn’t take into account that Terrey died 12 hours later but acknowledged the grief the family and friends had been through.

“For them it is inexplicable and for his daughter, it has been a significant and likely long-term psychological and emotional harm.”

After taking a start point of 3 years in jail, he gave credits for her late guilty plea, genuine remorse, rehabilitative counselling for anger and grief, Section 27 report, offer to attend restorative justice, and previous good character as her previous violence and dishonesty convictions dated back 24 years.

Belinda Feek is an Open Justice reporter based in Waikato. She has worked at NZME for nine years and has been a journalist for 20.