Identity of 19yo who threatened to kill non-Muslims kept secret rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Barnes was wrestling with alcohol issues and a porn addiction
Photo: RNZ/Vinay Ranchhod
The police who turned up at International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) wore plain clothes. They discreetly presented the warrant, asked for USB sticks and entered the general manager s office. But it s hard to fly under the radar in a country as small as New Zealand. An IANZ staff member recognised one of the men ferreting through Phillip Barnes stuff as a cop, and soon a story was doing the rounds at the Crown entity s Auckland headquarters.
But it wasn t the truth; Barnes managed to keep that secret until today. The story back then was the truth twisted into insignificance, the real tale scrubbed clean of guilt and perversion. It was the story of how Barnes was in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was just at his gym when something unsavoury went down and now police were busy trying to rule out every fitness fan who was there when the incident happened. All of them under suspicion.
Low rape conviction rate shows system is failing - Women's Refuge rnz.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rnz.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo: RNZ / Claire Eastham-Farrelly
The three girls now aged 15 and 16 pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Grace Virtue and were today given their punishment in the High Court in Palmerston North.
The eldest will serve two years and six months in prison, while the other two were given a year of home detention.
Justice Helen Cull said longer sentences would be more damaging, given their ages. This offending is a tragedy for all concerned. It was a senseless and reckless crime and it has changed the lives of everyone. You now have a chance to make something of your lives with the supports in place to rectify the wrongs of your past and set on a path of education, reintegration and rehabilitation.