Kian McNamara, now 18, has been publicly named after losing his bid to keep name suppression following his conviction for the 2021 murder of 22-year-old Bram Willems in Northland.
The fatal attack occurred after a night of drinking, drug use, and a joyride in Willems’ car, during which tensions escalated.
The conflict culminated near the Roadrunner Tavern, where McNamara stabbed Willems 13 times, killing him at the scene. He claimed self-defense at trial, but the jury rejected this argument, convicting him of murder.
Originally sentenced to life with a minimum of 10 years in prison, his sentence was later reduced to 13 years with a non-parole period of five years and two months.
The Court of Appeal ruled that McNamara’s age and circumstances did not meet the threshold for “extreme hardship” required to maintain name suppression.
So Willems gets ZERO chance at life, and McNamara gets potentially 5 yrs 2 months and he’s running around free as a jay bird again. Can someone please explain to me how this is justice in any shape or form, or am I a bit thick…
Why was his sentence reduced?
5 years for murder (let’s be honest, that’s all he’ll serve) seems like a pathetic joke. Someone lost their life when it was just starting out.
If I were the dead boy’s father I’d start making my own arrangements. 5 years is a long time to plan.
This country had better get serious about giving its people actual justice or those sorts of scenarios will become inevitable.
His mother is at fault school teacher in southland