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Christchurch pair guilty of manslaughter
29 May 2006
By STAN DARLING and NZPA
A High Court jury has found a Christchurch man and woman guilty of the
manslaughter of former Timaru Road Knights gang leader Ricky "Boof" Burnard.
Kylie Dianne Southon, 36, and Anthony Kevin Peters, 32, had been jointly charged
with murdering Burnard in April last year.
But yesterday, after deliberating for three days, the jury of eight women and
four men instead found the pair guilty of the alternative charge of
manslaughter.
Southon blew her family a kiss and mouthed "I love you" as she left the dock.
There was little reaction to the verdicts from the few members of the public at
the rear of the court. Family members refused to comment on the verdict.
During the four-week trial, the Crown alleged Southon and Peters planned to kill
Burnard because he was causing them continuing problems, making threats and
growing increasingly violent and erratic from his use of pure methamphetamine,
or P.
Little defence evidence was called – 20 minutes worth during the trial – but
Southon's lawyer, Pip Hall, successfully argued she had not planned to kill
Burnard and was surprised when Peters produced a gun and shot him in the
Christchurch suburb of Linwood on April 27 last year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe jurors had heard that Burnard was shot three times
– twice at close range – during a confrontation with Southon and Peters on
Stanmore Road after an early-morning car chase. Badly wounded, Burnard staggered
into a nearby driveway, where he died of his injuries.
For Peters, counsel Tim Fournier said the Crown had not proved that Peters was
even at the killing scene. A statement to police by Southon implicating him was
inadmissible as evidence against him, he said.
Justice Lester Chisholm yesterday thanked jurors for the "obvious care" they had
taken in reaching their verdicts.
He said the intrusion into their private lives during the trial and three nights
of seclusion in a city hotel had been beyond what anyone had expected.
Southon and Peters were remanded in custody for probation reports to be prepared
for sentencing on July 6
