A man who killed an Indian grandfather in Christchurch last year won’t go to jail as his two-year prison sentence was on Wednesday downgraded to home detention of 11 months.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday found the jail sentence excessive and ordered Jayden Ray Kahl’s to serve home detention instead, Stuff has reported.
In April 2023, Kahl killed 60-year-old Mewa Singh, who he wrongly believed was trying to abduct his son from a Christchurch skate park. Singh was visiting New Zealand to meet his newborn son and spend time with his son and family when he was killed.
On the day of the killing, Kahl had taken his son home after finding the boy with Singh, who thought the child was lost and was trying to help. Kahl later returned to the park to seek out Singh and punched him, leading to injuries that killed the elderly man.
Last month, a court had found Kahl guilty and sentenced him to two years in jail. In their ruling on Wednesday, the Appeal judges ruled the previous judge had erred in sentencing Kahi on the basis that when he returned to the park he had an intention to cause serious harm to Singh.
The Court of Appeal emphasised in its decision that home detention was only appropriate in this case because of particular circumstances.
“Whether home detention is an appropriate sentence for a one punch manslaughter will depend on the circumstances of the case, and the circumstances of the offender as previous decisions in the High Court,” the decision said.
Mewa Singh and his wife had travelled from India to New Zealand to support their son and welcome the birth of their second grandchild. Tragically, just four months after meeting the newborn, Singh was killed by a single punch from Kahi on April 7 last year.
Singh’s son, Himanshu Keshwer, spoke out about the "senseless" and "unfair" killing of his father. Singh lost his life on the evening of April 9, two days after the attack. Keshwer shared his grief, describing the devastating moment he learned of his father's critical injuries.
“When I left for work that day, everything was good. My family was happy, [my father] was playing with my daughter,” Keshwer said. He was informed of the attack by a police officer around 9:30 pm that night. Keshwer described his father as a kind and caring man who would never harm anyone, especially a child. “He was a very good human being. He never took anything seriously and always tried to help people wherever possible.”