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Offender Database James Reha

James Hemi Hukanui Reha

Alias

.

Offences

Involved in the killing of Mark Harkin in the course of robbing him on the Petone foreshore in March 1983.
Assault on his former partner plus sexual violation and indecent assault of a 12 year old girl after being paroled.
Other convictions for assault, drink driving and two of driving while disqualified

Victims

Mark Harkin

Offender Affiliations

Esther Te Aranganui Solvoll
Paul Manihera

Gang affiliations

none known

Age

Born 1964

Current Location

Currently at large

Parole/Release Dates

Was sentenced to "life" in September 1983
Was sentenced to preventive detention in late 1997
This was rescinded on appeal in March 1998 to be replaced by a sentence of just seven years!
Unduly released January 2005!

Background
Otago Daily Times, March 1998 here
Also see this excellent article from The Listener
The indefinite jail sentence of preventive detention should be used only when there was no other way to protect the public, Justice Gault said in the Court of Appeal yesterday.

The judge was giving the court's decision quashing a preventive detention sentence imposed on convicted murderer James Hemi Hukanui Reha. Instead, the court imposed sentences totalling seven years.

Reha (33) had been given preventive detention for indecencies with a 12-year-old girl whom he forced to perform oral sex. He was also sentenced for assaulting his former partner when she confronted him about the sexual abuse.

In 1984 Reha was convicted of murder after a jury decided he was one of a group who killed a youth on the Petone foreshore so they could take $3 from him. Reha was freed from jail after nine years and was on parole when he committed the present offences.

The absence of reports giving a basis for a high likelihood of re-offending and the absence of any reference to what crime Reha was likely to repeat meant preventive detention was inappropriate. Justice Gault said the fact that Reha was on life parole for murder meant preventive detention was not needed because parole terms meant he could be recalled to jail at any time he was considered a public threat. - NZPA

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Corrections and Additional Information
We endeavour to make this database as accurate as possible, but we are at the mercy of whatever information we can find in various online and offline archives. We rely on the public - that is, people like you - to fill in the gaps that we cannot. If you wish to submit additional information or a correction to this file CLICK HERE . Privacy: Trust policy is that all sources are treated as strictly confidential unless we are explicitly told otherwise. If you wish to see a file removed from this database certain conditions must be met by the offender set out HERE Note that this does NOT apply for those that are the primary offender in a murder, rape, or any sexual offending involving minors. We do not enter into correspondence regarding the guilt/innocence of offenders. Such correspondence is not responded to, especially if the offender concerned has a number of prior convictions

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