We are saddened and disappointed by the sentencing of convicted killer, Daniel Havili to just two years and nine months for the death of our brother Fau Vake.

In May last year, we were assured by the Prime Minister and Justice Minster that the law sufficiently allowed for charging and sentencing to reflect the crime.

Auckland District Law Society President, Marie Dyhrberg also said the law was adequate, citing her 35 years of experience behind her judgment of the law being sound.

Clearly the law is not adequate. It is pathetic.

Perhaps the politicians and the entrenched legal community need to step out of their ivory towers and visit the hospital rooms of the numerous victims of coward punches.

“It is despicable to claim a sentence two years and nine months for a man who violently took someone’s life is sufficient. Particularly when the majority of these people only serve half their sentence before they are paroled.

“It’s also despicable how Havili’s lawyer today tried to justify the actions by saying he was aggravated by verbal conflict, when it is clear from police statements and the judge, that Fau was trying to de-escalate the situation as his brother was attacked,” says City Kickboxing and UFC fighter Daniel Hooker.

The judge in Ofa Folau’s sentencing stated clearly Fau and his brother were trying to get away from the assailants and were not aggressors in the situation.

What is also proven in court is that having delivered the fatal blow, Havili then proceeded to attack Fau’s brother who was being attacked by the rest of the group.

The court also said Havili had a high risk of reoffending.

For his lawyer to attempt to mitigate killing someone by suggesting mean words were exchanged is deplorable. This lawyer should be ashamed of herself.

Once this legal charade is over, we all look forward to seeing the CCTV footage, where the truth will be released and laid bare for everyone to see.

We also look forward to finding out the legal history of the four men involved. We already know Havili was banned from Rugby 11 years ago for punching a referee and two other players.

What other convictions will emerge once the legal process is over?

We must challenge and push for change to the current system surrounding violence in general and coward punching in particular.

“Once again, we must ask, is two years nine months really sufficient for an act everybody knows can have lethal consequence? This was a big athletic guy over 100 kilos delivering a punch from side-on. He knew Fau had no chance of defending himself.

“Sadly, this is not the first time the system has failed, our courts are littered with coward punch killers who receive pathetic sentences and get out of prison in less than two years. If that is not reason enough for change, what is?” says City Kickboxing owner and head coach Eugene Bareman.

“We started this campaign for sentencing changes, reading out a list of names of people who had died following coward punches. Sadly, that list has even grown longer since Fau’s death,” Bareman adds.

Something needs to change.

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