File image. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
A shopping list in his mother's handwriting is all a grieving son could salvage from the remains of her burnt-down house - a crime committed by a 12-year-old boy.
That boy is now 17 and in the High Court at Palmerston North on Tuesday he was sentenced to 12 months' home detention for killing the woman in late 2020.
When Justice Andru Isac reached his sentence, the woman's son and other family members stormed out of the court's public gallery.
"You destroyed so many lives that night, including your own," the woman's son told the boy through his victim impact statement, which was read to the court.
"Not only did you take her from us, but you took her in a way that we couldn't say goodbye properly...
"Her last words were making sure you were out safe, but you wouldn't know that because you ran away."
The son said he lost so many mementos destroyed in the fire, and the scrawled shopping list was now precious as it was made by his mum's hand.
The boy's name is suppressed, as is his relationship to the woman who died in the Palmerston North fire the boy lit.
He earlier admitted a charge of manslaughter.
Neighbours on the evening in question reported hearing shouting from the house, but the woman and the boy went to bed, only for the boy to get up, pour petrol around the woman's bed and set it alight.
He then ran, leaving the house and rushing to a friend, who lived over 1 kilometre away, where he said what he'd done.
The woman managed to escape out a window, but suffered severe burns and died in hospital the next day.
When people arrived to help her, her main concern was that the boy has escaped unhurt.
A world destroyed
The woman's son said in his victim impact statement that it was hard for him to tell his daughter how her nan died, and why she had to lie in a closed coffin.
He now saw the world differently and had lost a job he once loved.
Even memories of his mother were tainted with anger because of how she died.
"[In late 2020] my mum took her last breath. It was the day my world, as I knew it, was destroyed, by you," he told the boy.
A statement from the woman's granddaughter spoke of how much it hurt to see other children with their nans.
"I hate that I can no longer remember my nanny's voice, only her smile. Do you know how hard that is?"
Another family member's statement said the woman was supposed to join him and his children for Christmas 2020.
The boy still made the trip, before it was known what he'd done.
"I'll never forget him saying, 'This is the best Christmas ever.' It has stuck with me because for me it's the worst Christmas and he is the reason why," the family member said.
Another family member said she forgave the boy, but still wanted to see justice done.
A tragic case
Defence lawyer Nicola Graham said the boy was a child at the time, with no control over where he lived and what his life was like.
"This case is a tragedy. [The woman] was clearly a well-loved family member, friend and a colleague," Graham said.
"This case is also a tragedy for [the boy] who will forever live with the knowledge of what has happened."
Graham said the boy now lived in a loving home and was a polite, hardworking young person considered to have a positive future.
In 22 years as a lawyer the boy's background was one of the worst she'd seen, as she asked the court to consider home detention as a final sentence.
"The sad irony of this case is it has markedly improved [the boy's] life trajectory."
An assessment found him at low risk of reoffending.
Graham said in late 2020, the boy was scared, vulnerable and traumatised. He still was, but had since proven himself as someone who could function in society.
No intention to kill
Justice Isac said the boy had a difficult background and had been through trauma no child should suffer.
"I think what happened to you as a little kid affected you a lot. I think on the night you lit the fire you didn't want to hurt [the woman], but you wanted to get away from that house and not go back there."
The judge sentenced the boy on the basis he was trying to burn down the house, but not hurt the woman.
While a clever, polite and thoughtful young man, Justice Isac said the boy nevertheless had somewhat premeditated his actions by lighting a practice fire in his room, and he had not immediately sought help.
That would be serious if he were an adult, but the judge said running was an act of a "panicked child", and he did alert an adult at his friend's house to what happened.
Justice Isac took a starting point of 5 1/2 years' jail before giving discounts for, among other factors, a guilty plea, the boy's young age at the time, his bad childhood, and time spent on bail.
"Nearly a quarter of your life has been spent with the case hanging over you. It's not a good reflection on the criminal justice system," the judge told the boy.
Justice Isac said the best outcome for the community was to keep the boy living with his caregiver and continuing his education.
