New ‘coward punch’ penalties too late for grieving parents
Tuesday, 1 July 2025
For Natasha and Brian Smith, harsher “coward punch” penalties have come nine months too late.
Their 21-year-old son, Luke Smith, died in October after being punched once in the jaw during an unprovoked early-morning attack on Courtenay Place in central Wellington.
Luke was knocked unconscious, fell and hit his head on the concrete pavement. He died the following day in hospital.
Former amateur boxer Siale Siale later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to two years and three months’ imprisonment.
In a similar situation, teenager Regan Robson-Khan was given nine months home detention for knocking roofer and rugby player Wynton King to the ground with a coward punch while drunk on a bottle of rum outside a Christchurch bar in October 2022.
King was left in a coma and so badly injured that his life support was turned off - yet he survived and has made a miraculous recovery.
His sister, Amber Sowman, said at the time that Robson-Khan’s sentence was “gutting”, and that it did not reflect what he had done.
On Monday, the Government announced new laws that would impose stricter sentences for fatal one‑punch attacks, dubbed “coward punches”. It has given Luke Smith’s parents a sense of hope, albeit too late to ease their own pain.
“To be honest, we felt like the sentence was a slap in the face,” Luke’s father Brian Smith told The Post.
“Luke’s life was taken. My son is gone … but these [tougher sentences] might give people a sense of hope that they could get real justice for their loved ones.”
However, mum Natasha asked: “Why did it take until 2025 to change the law?”
The Smiths hoped the prospect of tougher penalties would deter those who thought about throwing a punch on a night out, and would make it safe for young people to go out at night.
The new laws, announced by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith, will create a specific criminal offence for “coward punches” that cause injury or death.
“We know how dangerous they are. People can be killed or suffer lifelong brain injuries, yet perpetrators often receive lenient and insufficient sentences,” Goldsmith said.
UFC star Israel Adesanya has been among the prominent voices calling for the change, after his training partner, Fau Vake, was killed in 2021 when he was punched in the head during an altercation in central Auckland.
The charges and penalties are:
An assault offence for one punch attacks which cause grievous bodily harm with associated maximum penalties of:
Eight years’ imprisonment when the offender intended to cause injury or acted with reckless disregard for safety, 15 years’ imprisonment when the offender intended to cause grievous bodily harm.
A culpable homicide offence for a one punch attack which results in death with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The new offences form part of the National/New Zealand First coalition agreement to introduce legislation to create a specific offence for anyone who injures or kills someone with a coward punch.
Speaking to media after the announcement, Goldsmith said the new laws would send a “clear message from Parliament to the courts and society as a whole that this is something that we won’t tolerate”.
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters stood alongside Goldsmith for the announcement, adding: “We’re on the side of the victim, not the offender”.
Both new offences will be added to the Three Strikes Regime. The hope is that they are introduced to Parliament before the end of the year.