The death of a promising young kickboxer in Auckland has sparked conversations around king-hits, or coward punches, and whether new legislation should be introduced to penalise offenders - but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says existing laws already cover one-punch assaults.
Fau Vake, 25, was waiting for a taxi on Auckland's Symonds Street in the early hours of Sunday, May 16, when he was allegedly struck from behind with no provocation. Four men have been arrested in relation to the alleged attack and are facing various assault charges.
Vake, a mixed martial artist at the prominent club City Kickboxing, sustained critical injuries in the alleged assault and died on Sunday following a week at Auckland Hospital.
A king-hit, or coward punch, is a form of assault where the attacker strikes the victim in the head without warning, allowing the victim no time to defend themselves. A one-punch assault also puts the victim at further risk of head trauma when impacting the ground.
Appearing on The AM Show on Monday, the Prime Minister was grilled by host Duncan Garner as to whether a specific charge for coward punches should be introduced.
Ardern said in recent years, a Member's Bill was presented before Parliament regarding king-hits, which proposed a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars for convicted offenders. However, that Bill - which would have created an offence for coward punches - was rejected in 2018.
"We believe current law gives courts appropriate options, and allows for such acts to be appropriately prosecuted and punished," Justice Minister Kris Faafoi said.
Speaking to The AM Show, Ardern reiterated that stance, arguing that introducing a new charge specifically for one-punch assaults would risk mitigating a possibly harsher sentence for murder or manslaughter.
"One of the issues is, depending on the circumstances, someone may indeed be charged with murder or manslaughter - which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment," Ardern said.
"By having a specific charge, you wouldn't want the upper [sentence] to be potentially lower than you might [get] through our existing legislation."
Garner insisted there is little chance of an alleged offender being charged with murder for a single punch.
"Who gets charged with murder for throwing a punch? I can't point to anyone who's done a long sentence in New Zealand for coward punches."
"We would want our courts to have that scope to be able to do that if they determined that was the right thing to do," Ardern argued.
"You could preclude that by having something you prescribe when actually, someone could end up with a higher penalty if you had that broader application where they were able to take into account those circumstances."
"Yes, in theory, what you are saying is correct - it could happen. But it's not happening," Garner pressed. "Judges aren't laying down long 15-20 year sentences under manslaughter charges."
"I don't want to predetermine what happens in this particular case," Ardern hit back.
"We have within the bounds of the law the ability for it to be up to a life sentence in these cases. There's nothing restricting that from taking place. What you might be expressing frustration with is judicial decision-making at sentencing - but the law allows quite a heavy range of penalties for something like this."
On Wednesday, City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman called for perpetrators of coward punches to be charged with murder.
"There is no excuse, it should be considered attempted murder or murder," he told Newshub.
"Your intention is to cause as much harm as you can. That's what you're trying to do."
On Sunday afternoon, police announced that more charges will be laid over the alleged assault of Vake following his death.
"Lifau Tu'iha'aingana Vake, known as Fau Vake, died in Auckland Hospital with family by his side this morning," Detective Senior Sergeant Geoff Babe said on Sunday.
"Our thoughts are with his family at this incredibly difficult time.
"Given the man's death, further charges will be filed in due course."
Det Snr Sgt Babe said no one else is being sought as part of the investigation, but urged anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact police on 105.
