The Appeal Court judges did not agree with Sarvjeet Sidhu's lawyers. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
A man who attempted to kill a prominent talk show host and YouTuber in the Sikh community has lost his bid to have his sentence reduced.
In 2023 Sarvjeet Sidhu was sentenced to nine and a half years in prison for attempting to murder Harnek Singh with two co offenders.
The men were recruited by another man angry at Singh's commentary on politics and the Sikh religion.
In 2020, they followed Singh home from his temple, rammed his car, and stabbed and slashed him about 40 times in five minutes.
He only survived because of first aid given by police who were called by neighbours.
A Court of Appeal judgement released on Wednesday outlined Sidhu's arguments at a March hearing, through his lawyer, that his sentence was excessive.
He argued the sentencing judge had not taken proper account of his previous good character, his remorse, the impact of imprisonment on his family, and his youth.
It was also argued the judge had not placed enough weight on the "causative contribution between the offending and Mr Sidhu's religious devotion".
But the Appeal Court judges did not agree.
There were several aggravating factors to the attack, including the fact the victim nearly died, they said in Wednesday's judgement.
Sidhu was not fully remorseful because he still believed his actions were "at least, in part, justified," by the victim's purported attack on his religious and political beliefs, they said.
And they dismissed Sidhu's argument that his age at the time of the offending warranted a bigger sentencing discount.
At 24, he was at the very upper end of the age bracket where a youth discount could be considered.
"However, more importantly, the offending itself was not characterised by the impulsively that often characterises youthful offending. Rather, this was a carefully planned and deliberate decision to carry out a murder," the judgement said.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
