R v Hobson & Tane - [2024] NZHC 1705

Sentence in relation to the aggravated robbery of the Rose Cottage Superette in Sandringham and the subsequent murder of Janak Patel in 2022. Defendant Hobson sentenced on charges of murder and aggravated robbery. Defendant Tane sentenced on a charge of aggravated robbery alone. Common ground that life imprisonment for murder would not be manifestly unjust. Court considered that s104 of the Sentencing Act 2002 was not engaged: the murder was not committed in the course of the aggravated robbery which was complete by the time the victim was killed, nor committed in an attempt to avoid detection for the aggravated robbery or to otherwise subvert the course of justice. Having regard to comparable cases and the strong need to denounce and deter, the Court considered a starting point minimum period of imprisonment (MPI) of 16 years to be warranted. Accounting for a six-month uplift for Defendant Hobson's personal aggravating factors, and a one-and-a-half year reduction for his personal mitigating factors, the Court considered an MPI of 15 years to be appropriate. Court adopted a six year starting point for the aggravated robbery itself, allowing net reductions of 25 per cent for each defendant on account of their particular personal mitigating factors. Defendant Hobson sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of imprisonment of 15 years, concurrently with a sentence of four years and six months' imprisonment for the aggravated robbery. Defendant Tane sentenced to imprisonment for four years' and six months' imprisonment.