A man who stalked his victim in pursuit of his gold jewellery to the extent the man was forced to dive into Auckland's harbour, eventually drowning, has been sentenced in the High Court.
Joniero Joe Irving will spend four years and eight months in prison for the manslaughter of an Auckland man following a trial at the High Court in February. Justice Justice Timothy Brewer ruled the attack was financially motivated.
James Harley David Jenkins, a 24-year-old from Auckland, went missing on October 7, 2019, sparking an extensive police search into his whereabouts. Jenkins' body was found a week later in Auckland's viaduct.
On the night of his disappearance, Jenkins was seen speaking to two men before he entered the water, prompting police to appeal for information from the public to help locate these men.
But it wasn't until two years later that one of the men, Irving, was charged with manslaughter.
Jenkins and his partner were at the waterfront bar Andrew Andrew when he approached Irving who was with his friends. The pair had a brief conversation, according to Justice Brewer's sentencing notes. While it is unknown what was said between the pair, Justice Brewer was satisfied there was some sort of history between the two which made Jenkins wary of Irving.
Concerned Irving may take the jewellery he was wearing, Jenkins slipped his Rolex watch and heavy gold necklace into his partner's handbag. But he kept on his two gold rings, each of which contained a gold Sovereign coin.
Around 30 minutes later at 4am, Irving saw Jenkins and his partner leaving and began acting aggressively towards him, the notes said. Jenkins ran away but Irving chased him causing Jenkins to dive into the cold water of the harbour to escape him.
But Irving "stalked" and "shadowed" Jenkins from the land, the notes said, and was waiting for him when he swam to a nearby terminal calling for help.
Two security guards overhead Irving making threats towards Jenkins such as "I'm going to f***ing smash you" and "I want to f***ing kill you".
Jenkins managed to climb up a ladder and board a ferry, and a worker who witnessed the ordeal stopped Irving from boarding as well. Irving continued to threaten Jenkins forcing him to hand over his two gold rings.
"But that did not stop you. You wanted the necklace (which he no longer had)," the notes said.
Jenkins tried to escape but as Irving tried to board the ferry again, he jumped into the harbour. Irving watched as Jenkins swam away and then weakened in the water, the notes said.
"He did not respond to efforts to help him. He drowned. You were responsible for his death," Justice Brewer's notes said.
Justice Brewer said the case fell into the "fright response" manslaughter category, which has had only a few similar cases.
"Clearly, your motive was financial. You wanted to force Mr Jenkins to give you his jewellery."
Irving was handed a prison sentence of four years and eight months.
The court notes said Irving has not returned the rings he stole, nor did it disclose what he did with them.
Irving has never given any accounts of what happened during his conversation with Jenkins or what motivated his later actions, the notes added.
