The couple responsible for killing toddler Moko Rangitoheriri while serving as the boy's caregivers have been jailed for 17 years.
Tania Shailer and David Haerewa abused and neglected the three-year-old for two months before his death in August last year. They were supposed to be looking after him while their mother Nicola Dally-Paki was at Starship Hospital caring for one of her other children.
In summing up, Justice Sarah Katz told the court Shailer and Haerewa's offending was one of the most serious cases of manslaughter she had ever seen, and described their actions as cruel and callous.
"Over the two months Moko resided with you, your animosity against him increased. The reason for your hostility is not clear. Mr Haerewa said he didn't like Moko's ways -- I note again he was a three-year-old child."
Justice Katz said a culture of violence against Moko developed.
"Rather than caring for him, you embarked on a joint campaign of violence against him."
She told the court the duo both encouraged each other to inflict pain on Moko.
Both will spend at least nine years behind bars before being considered for parole. Justice Katz said it was the longest sentence laid down for the manslaughter of a child.
Earlier today Ms Dally-Paki spoke through tears, saying Moko's death had an "immense" effect on her which will "last forever".
She called Shailer and Haerewa "monsters", and said her boy was so badly beaten she could barely recognise his battered body in hospital.
Shailer and Haerewa escaped a murder charge, instead convicted of manslaughter. Their sentencing today took place in Rotorua in front of a full public gallery.
"My other children will never experience a life with Moko," said Ms Dally-Paki. "Tania, you were meant to be my friend, someone I trusted -- instead you tortured my child."
She told the court Shailer "lied and created a web of deception" that led to Moko's death.
"I couldn't hold my baby and wish him happy birthday -- all I could do was light four candles."
Ms Dally-Paki said she would have taken the duo's torture herself, if it meant she could have saved the life of her son.
Moko's uncle David Paki also delivered an emotionally charged victim impact statement.
"Tears have flowed and haven't stopped flowing since. You two performed the most evil violence over a period of time on an innocent child that's shocked the nation."
Mr Paki said it makes him physically sick to think of how Moko was killed.
Both he and Ms Dally-Paki called on the judge to deliver the maximum sentence for manslaughter, which is life.
"This crime has bestowed upon our family a weight that no family should bear," said Mr Paki.
"It is a life sentence for us. Life. It's a maximum sentence that we don't deserve. Today I'm hoping, I'm willing, I'm praying that you two get the maximum sentence that can be given for this charge. You took an innocent child's life away from a loving mother."
The three-hour sentencing was "intense and emotional", Story presenter Duncan Garner told RadioLIVE from outside the courtroom.
Ms Dally-Paki was "angry, she was upset, she was emotional" -- it was the first time she had confronted her son's killers face-to-face since his death.
"Shailer was shaking throughout the whole ordeal," said Garner. "Haewera looked like he'd fallen asleep for half of the sentencing. His eyes very rarely opened."
Shailer and Haerewa didn't have anyone in court to support them. The public gallery was full, but everyone there was supporting Moko's family.
"I thought they looked very vacant, I thought they looked very empty, I thought they looked very embarrassed," says Garner.
Shailer and Haerewa were supposed to be looking after Moko and his seven-year-old sister while their mother was at Starship Hospital caring for one of her other children.
"She told me that Moko was locked in the bathroom for two weeks. She'd tried to stay home from school to try and feed my son, 'cause they were starving him," Ms Dally-Paki told Story last month.
She says her daughter told her: "'He wasn't talking Mummy. I tried to tell David, and I told Tania he's not talking and he needs to see the doctor, and they wouldn't listen, Mummy.'"
Haerewa admitted to police that he'd slapped, kicked and stomped on Moko, and confessed he would regularly lock the toddler in a bathroom on his own for hours at a time.
A summary of facts also revealed that Shailer, who was an early childcare teacher, stomped on Moko's stomach and abdomen -- injuries believed to have been the main contributors to his death.
Haerewa and Shailer's defence lawyers entered a plea bargain which resulted in their murder charges being downgraded to manslaughter. The pair pleaded guilty to those charges.
Coroner Wallace Bain oversaw the inquest into Moko's death, and compared it to the tragic death of Rotorua toddler Nia Glassie eight years ago.
Outgoing Children's Commissioner Russell Wills says the case has caused him to question humanity and says the toddler's death will haunt him forever.
Newshub.
