A man and a woman convicted for their part in an attack which left a 26-year-old man dead were today handed down long prison sentences.
Paul Junior Grace, 26, was jailed for nine years and Annette Louise Elaine Heta, 30, to 8-1/2 years for the manslaughter of Jason Noe Kai Chong Boon in southeast Auckland on November 18, 2006.
Justice Helen Winkelmann handed Grace a minimum non-parole period of four years and Heta was given no minimum non-parole sentence.
Both had pleaded not guilty to murder at the start of their trial.
A third accused, Guy Nicholas Wilson, 36, who was found guilty of murder when the trio stood trial last year, has had his sentencing delayed until July.
The trio were also convicted of assault with intent to rob. They broke into Mr Boon's home in Botany Downs in search of drugs and property. Mr Boon was tied up, gagged and beaten. He died from asphyxiation due to the duct tape placed over his mouth.
His girlfriend Janny-Lee Broussow was at home when the intruders broke in. She grabbed her three-year-old daughter and locked herself in the bathroom upstairs, from where she called police on her mobile phone.
Ms Broussow's mother, who was not to be named, said after today's sentencing she thought the sentences were too light.
