Man gets life sentence for killing 12-year-old stepdaughter
April 14, 2003
A Hamilton man who kicked his 12-year-old stepdaughter to death has been sentenced to life imprisonment with 17 years non parole. A High Court last month convicted Darran Paul Mackness, 35, of the murder of Kelly Paula Gush.
Kelly died in Auckland’s Starship Hospital on August 4 after suffering brain injuries inflicted by Mackness when he kicked her twice to the head.
The girl, only 1.5m tall and weighing 26kg, had endured a sad life with her sister, 14-year-old Kylie, spending most of her time at home locked in her spartan bedroom. The girls’ mother, Mackness’ former partner Karen Paget, told a depositions hearing in January that the girls’ room was locked from the outside and Mackness had nailed the windows shut. When the girls needed to use the bathroom they knocked on the door, or at night they were left a bucket.
Crown prosecutor Philip Crayton said Mackness, who had martial arts training, kicked Kelly in a fit of anger on August 3 last year after she vomited up her dinner.
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