Sentencing — inciting suicide — Crimes Act 1961, s 179(1)(a) — Sentencing Act 2002, ss 7, 8, 27 & 123B — Churchward v R [2011] NZCA 531 — R v Cole [2022] NZDC 7963 — R v ARW [2013] NZHC 1476 — R v Morant [2020] QCA 135 — Walmsley v R [2014] ACTCA 24 — R v Howe [2014] EWCA Crim 114. The defendant appeared for sentence on a charge of inciting suicide. He and the victim had previously been in a relationship, and the defendant had faced a charge of assaulting the victim. Despite the terms of his bail, the defendant remained in contact with the victim via text messages and social media. When arguments between the defendant and the victim broke out, the defendant would respond by sending the victim messages telling her to kill herself. The victim eventually made an unsuccessful suicide attempt. The defendant became aware of her attempted suicide (as well as an earlier attempt predating their relationship), but continued to tell her to kill herself. The defendant was eventually discharged on the assault against the victim. He later admitted that he had maintained the relationship purely with the aim of getting a lenient sentence on the charge, and that he had been in another relationship with a different woman during the offending. The Court observed that the type of offending was rare, and that none of the comparable cases was exactly the same as this one. However, the Court listed eight aggravating features, including victim vulnerability, high breach of trust, and offending while on bail for assaulting the victim. Some of the offending had occurred at a time when the defendant was being harassed by the victim, but the Court considered that the harassment was the result of the defendant's emotional hold over her. The start point for sentence was three years' imprisonment. In mitigation the defendant was relatively young and had excellent prospects of rehabilitation. The final sentence was 30 months and two weeks' imprisonment. Judgment Date: 3 July 2023