Source: Radio New Zealand
Abel Wira, pictured in Kaitāia District Court in 2023. RNZ / Peter de Graaf
A Northland man already in jail after his dogs killed his landlord has been sentenced to a further six years for an underage sex offence.
Abel Wira was sentenced in the Whangārei District Court on Monday on a charge of unlawful sexual connection with a female under 16, after being found guilty in a jury trial earlier this year.
The offence was historic, meaning it happened some years ago.
The six-year term comes on top of the three-and-a-half years he is already serving for owning the dogs that killed his friend and landlord, Neville Thomson, at his home in Panguru, in the Far North, in 2022.
It was the first time in New Zealand anyone had been charged with manslaughter in relation to a dog attack.
The court was told Wira’s 23 dogs had not been fed for two days before the fatal attack, and were kept in a caravan with the door secured only by a shoelace and a piece of wood.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand