The 17-year-old who murdered Oamaru teenager William Lewis last year has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Daniel Ethan Smith, who was 16 when he stabbed Lewis in the street last year, was sentenced today in the High Court at Timaru.
The public gallery was silent as Justice John Fogarty imposed the mandatory life sentence with a minimal parole period of 10 years.
Smith was found guilty by a jury of 10 men and two women on May 6 after six hours' of deliberation spread over two days, rejecting his claim he had stabbed Mr Lewis in self defence.
Mr Lewis spotted Smith in Thames St about 9.30pm on April 1 last year.
Angry at a rumour Smith had slept with a previous girlfriend, he challanged him to a fight.
Smith said he did not want to fight, and walked off north along Thames St to go home.
Mr Lewis, in a car with two friends, went looking for him and the altercation resumed a short time later.
Continuing to walk away, Smith turned into Exe St and Mr Lewis followed.
There, a face-to-face altercation took place and Smith, telling the court he was frightened, pulled out a hunting knife with a 12cm blade.
As he turned away, Mr Lewis was stabbed three times in the back.
Smith ran off east along Exe St and Mr Lewis staggered towards Thames St, collapsing on the footpath where he died, despite efforts by the public and emergency services to revive him.
Smith was arrested the day following the stabbing and went on trial in the Timaru High Court on May 2.
