A man has been sentenced to prison for the manslaughter of promising MMA fighter Fau Vake.
Vake died at Auckland City Hospital in May last year, one week after being punched multiple times in the head by a group of four men outside a bar on Symonds Street.
He was in critical care and underwent surgery to try relieve pressure on his brain, before his life support was turned off. He was 25 years old.
After initially denying the charges, Daniel Havili, 30, pleaded guilty to Vake's manslaughter and to assaulting Vake's brother Ika (James) Mafileo Vake.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to two years and nine months imprisonment by Justice Sally Fitzgerald at the High Court at Auckland.
Vake trained at Auckland's renowned City Kickboxing gym alongside the likes of Kiwi UFC stars Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker, and had made a successful start to his career as a professional fighter.
The attack
Vake was attacked by a group of four men outside a bar on Symonds Street, just before 3am on May 16.
After a series of other punches from others, Fau was punched by Daniel Havili in the side of the head while he had his hands by his side. Vake was unable to break his fall and his head hit the asphalt road.
The fall caused a skull fracture and brain bleeding, which, despite surgery, could not be recovered from. Vake died in hospital nine days later.
Fau's brother Ika was also attacked, including by Havili. Ika was hospitalised but survived.
Of the four men charged, Daniel Havili, 30, was the only one charged with manslaughter.
Two others have pleaded guilty to assault. Ofa He Mooni Folau was last year sentenced to six months' home detention and Siofilisi Paongo is yet to be sentenced. Another man denies the assault charges against him.
Havili initially denied the charge but pleaded guilty to killing Vake via manslaughter.
Havili also held Fau Vake back while Ofa Folau assaulted him, and assaulted Ika Vake.
In the High Court at Auckland today, Crown Prosecutor Claire Paterson said Havili's actions were "senseless acts of violence" against a man who never once punched or attacked any members of the group of four men.
She submitted Havili should have a starting point five-and-a-half years jail, accounting also for his admission of assaulting Ika Vake.
Defence lawyer Louise Freyer said Havili accepted he must be jailed but said he was "deeply remorseful".
She started out by apologising on Havili's behalf to Liufau Vake's family.
Freyer said Havili wanted to address his abuse of alcohol.
"He is determined to rehabilitate himself … and to be a different man," Freyer said.
Justice Fitzgerald said the charge was one of manslaughter, as there was no evidence that Havili intended to cause Vake's death.
CCTV footage captured the whole fight.
Justice Fitzgerald accepted that footage showed Havili's punch was not the worst of its kind. It was not a series of punches, she said, or the most forceful punch. However it was enough to cause Vake to fall backward and hit his head, which caused his death.
"It goes without saying that your offending is serious, given the manslaughter charge. Your actions led to the death of another," she said.
"It was also gratuitous, given you yourself were not threatened by Liufau."
Justice Fitzgerald noted that Havili grew up with "a culture of violence" in Tonga, and suffered from deprivation, hardship and housing instability. He himself was attacked when he was 15 years old and was hospitalised for six months.
"Childhood trauma, leading to anger management issues, is also an underlying cause. I accept that there is a causal link between the deprivation and violence that charactersied your upbringing and offending," Fitzgerald said.
"Your rehabilitation will depend very largely on you not drinking. It's as simple as that. You will need targeted counselling to address some of the deep-seated issues that arise from your childhood. But I accept you are genuinely motivated to rehabilitate."
She noted Havili had not drunk alcohol since shortly after the time of the offending.
Fitzgerald found the "starting point" of imprisonment for Havili's offending, in comparison to other similar cases, should be five years imprisonment.
She gave him a standard 25 percent discount for pleading guilty, a 15 percent discount for the deprivation and violence which characterised his upbringing, and a further five percent for his remorse and rehabilitative attempts.
RNZ/Newshub.
