Manslaughter retrial upsets family
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The family of Matt Heagney are upset and angry that the Blenheim bar owner found guilty of his manslaughter has had his conviction quashed.
The Court of Appeal has ordered a retrial for Kevin Robert King over the death of Heagney, who died as a result of head injuries suffered when he landed on the ground while being removed from Shapeshifters bar on August 23, 2009.
His father Pat Heagney today said the family would always see King as guilty, despite the court decision.
Heagney said the appeal decision was an insult, but he was prepared to face the retrial head-on for the sake of his son.
''The decision is very technical, but they are in no way saying the man isn't guilty.
''Of course, as far as we're concerned, a 24-year-old man was killed outside his place and King will always be guilty for that, retrial or not.''
Heagney said the justice system had let his family down and had not followed through on any of the tougher sentencing promises.
''John Key has promised everything to everyone, but his Government hasn't delivered at all.''
Heagney's mother, Pam Heagney, said she broke down in tears when she was told King's conviction had been quashed and a retrial ordered.
She was gutted, she said, and slammed the justice system as being a waste of taxpayers' money.
"If three judges can overturn a guilty verdict made by a jury, then what are we actually doing ... why are they [the Justice Ministry] even bothering.
"I got a phone call advising me of what had happened and I cried," she said.
"It was really hard to take in."
Going through the retrial would be incredibly hard, but they would continue to fight for justice for their son.
"It won't be easy, but we'll do it ... we'll do it for Matthew," Pam Heagney said.
She was upset King was a free man, but hoped a retrial would result in a higher penalty if he was found guilty.
"He [King] didn't get a hard enough penalty the first time, but at least he was paying some price.
"This way the man might even end up in jail, but he could walk out a free man, too. I don't understand the justice system, how can this happen?"
Last year a Wellington jury found King guilty of manslaughter and in February he was sentenced to 12 months' home detention. However, he has not been serving the sentence while awaiting the appeal decision.
The ruling, released yesterday, was a majority decision by the Appeal Court, with one of the three justices saying she would have dismissed the appeal.
King's lawyer, Greg King, successfully argued it was unfair for the Crown to have combined a choke-hold allegation with a dropping allegation to form one charge.
He argued that two manslaughter charges should have been laid, and that the trial judge made mistakes in directing the jury.
Former Shapeshifters co-owner Julian Campbell also said yesterday he was disappointed by the decision.
"It's weird. Just on a technicality we [witnesses] all have to go through the events again.
"I feel very sorry for the Heagney family and everyone affected by this decision. It won't be easy to dredge everything up again and recall accurate facts more than three years later."
King should have accepted his sentence and moved on, Campbell said.
"Personally, I think Mr King got a very lenient penalty imposed. He should have got on with it and let the Heagneys grieve."
Lawyer Greg King could not be reached yesterday.
Kevin King was also unable to be contacted for comment.
- The Marlborough Express
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