Killer rues senseless death

Raymond Mahuki is sorry.

Sorry for the "gutless" murder of Nigel "Bala" Les McQueen, sorry for the anguish he caused his victim's whanau and for the misery he brought his own family.

Mahuki, 44, stood and faced a packed public gallery at the High Court in Hamilton yesterday to express his "deep remorse" for killing drinking buddy Bala McQueen.

Mr McQueen, 46, was stabbed three times by Mahuki during a drinking session at Mahuki's Catalina Dr home in Hamilton on August 28 last year.

Mahuki was sentenced yesterday to a minimum 10 years' jail after a jury had earlier found him guilty of murder.

"To the McQueen whanau I'm humbly sorry for the grief, loss and expense that I caused you by taking Bala's life in such a gutless way," an emotional Mahuki said.

He couldn't explain why he attacked his friend with two knives after a day of excessive drinking.

Mahuki also addressed Mr McQueen's mother, Matekitawhiti McQueen, who sat in the public gallery surrounded by whanau.

"I'm shattered with all my heart for taking your son's life", Mahuki said.

"I'm deeply ashamed and crushed at my actions because Bala deserved better."

Mahuki said he lived in hope the McQueens would one day forgive him.

Mrs McQueen's victim impact statement was read to the court by her granddaughter, Jodi.

She said her son's murder had greatly affected her and her whanau.

After her husband Albert's death, Mr McQueen had helped her in and around the home.

Her son was a generous, placid man whose death had "plucked out" a piece of her heart.

Crown prosecutor Philip Crayton said Mahuki's knife attack had come "completely out of the blue" and appeared without motive.

Defence counsel Bruce Hesketh said Mahuki had an unenviable criminal record which told a story of a person who had abused alcohol from an early age.

The court heard Mahuki had served 24 previous jail terms. His convictions included aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and assaulting a police officer.

Justice Andrews accepted Mahuki's apology was sincere and hoped the McQueen family would take comfort from it.

The judge said Mahuki's offending arose out of alcohol abuse and a tendency to be violent when drunk.

In a frank moment, Justice Andrews told Mahuki that she had gone away from his trial "very angry".

She said the fact a group of men had drunk to excess through the day had allowed the tragedy to happen. The result was that two families were destroyed.

Speaking afterwards, Matekitawhiti McQueen said her whanau, friends and faith had helped her cope with her son's murder.

"There is no time to hate, just time to forgive," Mrs McQueen said.

No mother ever expected to lose a child, she said.

"It's almost like a storm, it [the pain] never lasts. It drifts with the wind. I know one day the sun will shine for me again."

- © Fairfax NZ News