Ephron Ronaki and teen driver jailed after hitting her partner Taku Manu Paul in car, killing him

Ephron Ronaki in the High Court at Hamilton where she was sentenced, along with a teenage co-defendant, for the killing of Taku Manu Paul in December 2022. Photo / Belinda Feek

A teen would never have run a man over, twice, killing him and leaving him for dead on the street, if it were not for the instruction from Ephron Ronaki who was drunk in the passenger seat next to him.

“All hell broke loose” in the car as it turned into Station Rd, Te Puke, on the evening of Boxing Day 2022, after Ronaki instructed the teen to run over her partner, Taku Manu Paul.

Ronaki and the teen, who still has interim name suppression, both defended murder charges in the High Court at Hamilton during a trial in July, but the jury found her guilty of manslaughter and him guilty of murder and manslaughter.

After a three-hour sentencing on Wednesday, Justice Dale LaHood sent the teen to jail for 17 years with a minimum non-parole period of seven years, agreeing with a submission from his counsel, Ron Mansfield, KC, that a sentence of life imprisonment would be “crushing”.

Ronaki was jailed for four years and three months on charges of manslaughter and attempting to pervert the course of justice, which related to her initially telling police that she was the driver of the car.

The jury found the teen guilty of murder after he did a U-turn, lined Paul’s head up with the wheel of his car and, 13 seconds later, struck the man again. The whole incident took one minute and 14 seconds.

‘Highly dysfunctional relationship’

Justice La Hood said Ronaki and Paul had been in a “highly dysfunctional relationship” for several years, with evidence heard at trial that Paul regularly dished out beatings so severe that at times she feared for her life.

In the months leading up to his death the pair had been getting on well, but they spent Boxing Day 2022 drinking heavily and began arguing over some of her Christmas money which had gone missing.

Ronaki feared Paul had stolen it and was going to buy meth – a drug which fuelled his physical violence towards her.

Angry, upset, and keen to get it back, she got the teen to drive her around to try to find him as the pair yelled at each other over the phone.

They unexpectedly came across Paul as he stood on Station Rd. It was then Ronaki told the teen to “hit him, do it, run him over”.

Paul was struck with such force he hit the windscreen before landing on the road. He was struck again, as Ronaki tried to wrestle with the steering wheel.

The group fled while Paul was left for dead at the scene.

‘Life imprisonment or fixed jail term’

A key aspect for Justice La Hood to decide was whether the teen should be given life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years, as submitted by Crown solicitor Anna Pollett, or a fixed term as submitted by Mansfield.

Pollett said the teen should get such a hefty sentence because of the vulnerability of the victim as he lay prone on the road and the brutality and cruelty of that act.

Justice La Hood said there was a uniqueness to the case.

“But for that first hit there would not have been a second hit.

“Although the jury found [it was murder] it would never have happened without [Ronaki’s] suggestion.”

However, Pollett argued that others in the car, including Ronaki, actively tried to discourage the teen from hitting Paul a second time but he went through with it anyway.

As for Ronaki, she was the one who sought Paul out that night but accepted she should get credit for her alcohol addiction and time spent on electronically monitored bail.

Ephron Ronaki (centre) in the High Court at Hamilton where she was sentenced, along with a teenage co-defendant, for the death of Taku Manu Paul in December 2022. Photo / Belinda Feek

‘Two tragedies’

Mansfield said it was a case with a unique set of circumstances reflected by two tragedies; the loss of life, and the teen whose future was up in the air despite the obstacles he faced growing up, including having relatives who were in gangs.

“I wouldn’t have thought that there were many other young people who could have come through that background ... and at the time he was doing well at school, had a part-time job.

“I don’t think we can lose sight of that.”

Mansfield urged the judge to leave his client with some hope about his future and not issue the standard life without parole jail sentence.

A fixed jail term was in both his and the community’s interest so that he could go on to be a productive citizen and “something that will still provide him with the building blocks to live a pro-social life again”.

He accepted Paul was lying prone on the road after the first hit but it couldn’t be known whether that was “clear and apparent” to his client.

‘I will be forever sorry’

In a remorseful letter she read to the court, Ronaki apologised to the Paul family, “especially his mother and daughter”, for the hurt she had caused.

“Nothing that I can say will Taku back ... it breaks my heart. I will forever be sorry.”

Her counsel, Caitlin Gentleman, said Ronaki tried to stop the second hit and there was provocation by Paul as he was “screaming” down the phone at her.

There was also a suggestion that he moved into the path of the car before it hit him.

“He was at least saying, ‘Come and find me,’ because he told them where he was,” Gentleman said.

She sought 15% discount for the PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) her client had suffered because of the trauma at the hands of Paul, along with issues in her upbringing and other relationships.

Justice La Hood accepted the pair were remorseful.

After finding out Paul had died, the teen became anxious and withdrawn in the days that followed.

“You said you didn’t think your actions would kill Mr Paul, and that he would just be taken to hospital.”

He said the 17-year minimum period of imprisonment was designed for the “most serious murders” and found this was not one of those.

The teen was only behind the wheel because Ronaki was too drunk to drive and he hit Paul a second time while “in a state of shock” and wasn’t thinking rationally about the consequences.

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.