Guilty plea for manslaughter of Luke Smith in Wellington

Friday, 22 November 2024

The man charged with the manslaughter of South African Luke Smith in Wellington’s night club district, has pleaded guilty.

Siale Siale spoke the word “guilty” softly at the High Court in Wellington on Friday.

He has been remanded for sentencing on February 20.

Smith, 21, died on October 7, the day after he was assaulted on Courtenay Place, Wellington’s bar and restaurant district.

Smith came from South Africa earlier this year and settled in Upper Hutt with his parents.

A summary of what happened said Siale had started drinking about 5pm on October 5.

Just after 3am the next morning he was sitting on a bench outside the Reading Cinema complex on Courtenay Place.

Smith had also been drinking and he and a friend were walking to a bar where they were to meet a friend who was to drive them home.

Smith began talking to two females sitting on the same bench as Siale.

Siale grabbed Smith’s shirt and asked what he was looking at.

“The victim stopped and engaged in a minor verbal altercation with the defendant, taking exception to the defendant’s actions,” the summary said.

Smith’s friend grabbed Smith’s forearm to move him along.

As Smith was about to move away Siale asked what he had said. Smith replied he would make Siale look like a “pussy”.

Without warning, Siale punched him once in the jaw with his left hand, knocking him unconscious, the summary said. Smith fell straight back and hit his head on the road.

Siale said to Smith’s friend, “Do you want some bro”, pulled out his phone and made a video recording.

While Smith lay unconscious, Siale taunted him, showed his middle finger to him and and kicked him once in the thigh or groin area, the summary said.

Siale continued to taunt Smith, despite Smith’s friend telling him repeatedly to stop.

Siale left while Smith’s friend and on-lookers tended to Smith, gave him CPR and called emergency services.

Siale returned to the scene and Smith’s friend pointed him out to police.

The summary said Siale started to resist police who arrested him, but he was restrained.

At hospital Smith was placed on life support. The following day it was withdrawn and he died. His skull had been fractured and his brain had bled and swollen, causing his death.

Siale told police later that he argued with the victim, the victim wanted to fight him and Siale punched him first.

Siale, who recently turned 30, was originally charged with wounding with reckless disregard for Smith’s safety.

After Smith died, the charge was increased to causing his death by an assault and thereby committing manslaughter.

The court was told Siale had taken part in a charity boxing match in 2022. The summary said he trained for a month at a boxing gym. His trainer said he told everyone he trained that their boxing skills should never be used outside of the ring, as it was likely that anyone they came up against would come off second best.

Defence lawyer Lucie Scott said the part of the summary about boxing did not count as an aggravating factor of the offence.

Family of both men were at court and Luke Smith’s father watched proceedings from South Africa, Justice Karen Grau said.

She made a referral to restorative justice where Siale could meet the victim’s family, if both sides agreed.

She granted Siale bail until sentencing in February. Leaving court he told The Post, “I’m really sorry for everything …”

One of the reports being prepared for the court was to assess his suitability for an electronically monitored sentence, which would be home detention or community detention. The judge said that was no indication of the type of sentence that might ultimately be imposed.