Is Bruce Emery's sentence fair?

The man found guilty of the manslaughter of a 15-year-old tagger has been sentenced to four years three months in jail.

Bruce Emery stabbed Pihema Cameron after he caught him tagging his home in Manurewa in January last year.

Emery argued he had been defending himself during the incident in January 2008.

Debate on this issue is now closed. Here is a selection of Your Views:

R Ciavarella (New South Wales)
Monday March 2, 2009 Bruce Emery was nothing more than a nutcase. There will be no sympathy from me. He made a very bad decision the minute he picked up a dangerous weapon. Nothing is worth taking a life and if you believe there is any reason such as this, I suggest you get some help promptly.

Kiwi For life (Victoria)
Monday March 2, 2009 Since we seem to be in the habit of following links, thought you might be interested in this one. http:/www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=8715555101

Hmm really goes to show just what kind of people are supporting Emery. Four years, Not enough.

luvmydog (Waikato/King Country)
Monday March 2, 2009 Kingi (Auckland) - No we cannot compare Cameron's mother with the parents of the 2000 Otago University Students, who ran riot in the streets of Dunedin on their annual Toga Parade. The varsity students are at an age that legally allows police to arrest them. A 15 year old is not. A 15 year old is physically un-touchable by law. Juvenile courts are set up to deal with the younger age group, but an awful lot of red tape is used up before the kid even gets to that point.

I guess Mr Emery just lost his rag, but I don't think he thought a 15 year old would have been the recipient of the stand he was trying to make against something the community won't face, the families of taggers won't stop & even the law so far refuses to prioritise.

YouKNOWItsTheTruth (Mairangi Bay)
Friday February 27, 2009 John Lange: it's not the police, it's the punishments being dished out. I'll give you just one example. On Police 10-7 last night, during a car reposession, one woman was arrested for assaulting a police officer, and another man was arrested for disorderly behaviour.

They were given 40 hours community service and a $400 fine respectively. The reason the car was being repossessed in the first place was because the owner owed over $7,000 in fines. The police were there, outnumbered, getting verbal and physical abuse from drunk skinheads, in a situation that threatened to turn ugly.

They dealt with the situation professionally, made two arrests, and what was the outcome? Another $400 in fines added to the tab. The police have more incentive to make arrests when they know criminals get punished.

These people put their lives at risk for $50K.

YouKNOWItsTheTruth (Mairangi Bay)
Friday February 27, 2009 Karen Hawxhurst: you have got to be kidding me! My point is there in perfect English.

For the third time, Emery didn't know how many there were, or whether they were armed. So he took a knife for self defence. You asked why take a knife if not to hurt someone? There is your answer.

I'll say it again: self-defence. You might want to stop readin there, but as a perfectly legitimate comparison, I brought up people who own guns in America.

You asked why Emery took a knife if not to hurt someone, I answered it was for the same reason people own guns in the US: self defence.

There, I said it again. Self defence. I'm not talking about gun crime, I'm talking about people who legitimately and legally own guns. For self defence. Do you follow yet? Obviously not, because you're bringing up knife crime in the UK.

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