Horse trainer jailed for wife's murder
Thursday, 31 March 2011
A Matamata horse breeder who shot his wife at close range, killing her, has been jailed for life.
The sentence - with a minimum parole period of 11 years - was handed down to Gregory Meads when he appeared at the High Court in Hamilton this morning for sentencing over the murder of his wife, Helen Meads.
He was also ordered to pay $65,000 to his wife's family.
He was found guilty of intentionally shooting his wife at their Matamata property in 2009 after a seven-day trial last October.
The packed courtroom sat in silence as Kimberly White, 18, Mrs Meads' daughter to her former partner, detailed the impact of her mother's death.
She looked Meads straight in the eye as she told him that she would never forgive him.
'You took my mum away from me - for that I will never forgive you. I hope you rot in hell.'
Meads sat straight-faced in the dock as Miss White read her victim impact statement.
'For 17 years when I talked to my mum I looked her in the face. Now when I talk to her I talk to a headstone.'
Miss White held the hand of Mrs Meads' father, David White, as he struggled to read his victim impact statement without breaking down.
Mr White said his daughter was controlled by Meads.
'You treated her like nothing more than a possession,' he said.
He and his wife now struggled financially to support Samantha - the Meads' 10-year-old daughter - while Meads 'hid behind millions'.
'I worry for the future,' he said before breaking down.
Mr White said it would be up to Samantha whether she wanted to see her father again.
'The offender lost the right to be her father the moment he pulled the trigger.'
Justice Allan said it was particularly callous murder, however not brutal enough to impose a minimum sentence of 17 years.
THE TRIAL
The jury - who took just three hours to convict him - heard that Meads shot his wife inside the couple's stables on Banks Rd, Matamata on September 23, 2009.
Her death came just four days after she announced plans to end her 12-year marriage.
''Here we have a woman who has lost her life, children left without their mother and their father facing a long term of imprisonment,'' Detective Sergeant Rod Carpinter said after the sentencing.
Following the trial Mr White revealed he'd encouraged his daughter to leave Meads because of his abusive, violent tendencies.
Thirteen months before the shooting Meads beat his wife so badly he crushed her larynx and left her face bruised and bloodied.
The couple had been together since 1994.
The jury heard that after Mrs Meads announced her intention to leave she stayed living on the property and slept in a spare bedroom.
However, during the early hours of September 22 and 23, as she slept, Meads accessed her phone and trawled through 123 texts.
The texts detailed Mrs Meads' discontent with her marriage and her plans to move out.
On the morning of the shooting, Meads took the two children to school before returning home.
He then picked up a loaded shotgun and went out to the stables where Mrs Meads was mucking out.
He found his wife on the phone and waited for her to finish the call. He then shot her once in the throat.
An expert opinion concluded the shot was at close range.
When interviewed by police Meads confessed to the shooting, saying he became angry at reading his wife's texts and was ''really pissed off'' about being lied to.
Meads said his intention was to scare his wife with the shotgun but when he saw her he was consumed by ''a swell of emotion''.
He said he never intended to kill his wife and took the stand to tell the jury it was ''the single worst moment of my life''.