The court heard victim impact statements from the family, detailing their daily struggles since the violent attack.
“I wish New Zealand had [a] death row sentence for you in which I would greatly accept,” the father said, sharing his “hurt and anger” over the sexual assault of his wife.
The woman described Luka as a “sick individual” whose offending had caused her anxiety, left her unable to sleep, concentrate at work, and meant she is “always looking over [her] shoulder when in public”.
The son said he struggles daily, feeling depressed and “helpless”, and called for Luka to face the maximum sentence available.
Prosecutor Tim Bain pushed for a preventive detention order, a significant sentence meaning Luka would stay in prison indefinitely, with the Crown lawyer arguing the defendant was assessed as having an extremely high risk of reoffending.
Defence lawyer Karun Lakshman argued against preventive detention, instead pushing for a lengthy finite sentence.
Lakshman read an excerpt of an apology letter written by Luka, wherein he said he lives with regret, was wholeheartedly sorry for what he had done and had begun counselling.
The ‘horror movie’ home invasion
The ordeal was sparked after one of Luka’s co-offenders, Hiiata Te Amo, bought an iPhone off the 21-year-old son, in exchange for an ounce of cannabis.
Te Amo was unhappy with the June 2023 purchase, saying there were issues with the phone, and that he had been ripped off. He organised with friends to “pull up” to the man’s home to rob him.
Te Amo, with Luka, Onehimo Palesau, Junior Manuele and Jovie Andrews, turned up to the victim’s home on a quiet Birchville street at 10.50pm.
Luka and Andrews first knocked on the door demanding the son “open the f***ing door”, before two of the group forced their way in a sliding door, attacking the younger victim and his parents, both aged 50, and throwing the mother on the kitchen floor.
They punched the two male victims repeatedly in the head, while Andrews filmed the brutal assault on his phone.
The lengthy attack included kicks to the face and dragging victims by their hair. At various points during the violence, which lasted more than an hour, the father and son were struck so hard they lost consciousness.
“The [father] … asked the defendants, ‘What have I done?’ as he lay bleeding on the floor trying to protect his head from further blows,” the summary of facts said.
Andrews filmed him as Te Amo patted the father mockingly on the chin while blood dripped out of his nose and mouth.
At one point, Te Amo pulled a knife from the kitchen and threatened to cut the victim’s throat or remove some of his skin.
“The [father] asked what he had done to deserve this … Te Amo asked, ‘do you want some more?’”
The mother was taken to her bedroom where Luka physically and sexually assaulted her.
Luka told the victims he would have killed them if the mother was not there, and said if they called the police they would be hunted and killed. He correctly listed the address where the victim’s cousin and grandfather lived.
The offenders then stole two guitars, two cellphones, car keys, a PlayStation, speakers, jewellery and cash.
Sometime after midnight, Luka told the father: “I’m taking your wife. No cops, or you will never see her again.”
The mother believed if she did not go with Luka he would return and kill the family. She drove Luka in her car to an ATM where she withdrew $1500 and gave it to him.
Luka forced the woman to drive to another suburb and sexually assaulted her again. She contracted a sexually transmitted disease as a result of the offending.
He then got out of the car and she drove herself home, where the victims began cleaning up the blood and damage around the property.
“Terrified that the defendants would come back to the address and kill them, they did not report the offending to police until three days later,” the summary said.
Justice Grau said the event “had the quality of a horror movie”, which led to the family’s sense of safety and security being destroyed.
“The degree of damage to you, individually and as a family, is immense and is likely enduring; possibly permanent.”
The judge considered Luka’s previous offending, which included convictions for robbery and threatening his partner.
The 26-year-old had issues with drug use, including methamphetamine, the court heard.
Luka sat in the dock with his eyes closed while Justice Grau read details of his “cruel and callous” offending.
Pale Luka faces nearly two decades in prison for “cruel” offending against an Upper Hutt family.
He faced a total of 20 charges, including four on his sexual offending against the mother, as well as aggravated robbery, assault, blackmail, kidnapping, threatening to kill, strangulation, and making an intimate visual recording.
The judge considered preventive detention but noted concerns about those orders raised by a recent Law Commission review.
Justice Grau ultimately decided a finite but lengthy prison sentence would adequately protect the community.
The judge took a starting point of 20 years, with a 10% reduction for a guilty plea, landing on a final sentence of 18 years in prison, with a minimum 10-year non-parole period.
The other offenders
Hiiata Te Amo:
An alcohol and drug report found Te Amo has “severe cannabis, alcohol, and methamphetamine use disorder”, with its effects, as well as sleep deprivation, potentially leading to his offending.
That fact, as well as other personal matters, his guilty pleas, and the time already spent on electronically monitored bail, the judge said, meant a sentence reduction of about 50%.
He was a “full participant” in the cruel and violent offending, the judge said. She was not convinced he was influenced by his co-offenders.
Te Amo was sentenced to a total of four years and four months in prison.
The judge acknowledged the victims may not think the sentence was long enough but said it was a long time for a young person and should not be “crushing”.
Jovie Andrews:
The judge noted Andrews was not one of the ringleaders of the violent offending but was still a “full participant in the invasion of a family’s home and the associated violence”.
“His actions in filming aspects of the event were disturbing, they were cruel, and they were callous,” the judge said.
The judge noted Andrews’ “disrespectful” behaviour in court, including chuckling, and sleeping through much of the sentencing.
He was given sentence discounts for his guilty pleas, youth, lack of previous convictions, and was sentenced to a total of four years and two months’ imprisonment, and ordered to pay $2950 in reparations.
Junior Manuele:
Manuele never got out of the car and was caught up in something that went way beyond what he could have contemplated, the judge said.
He had expressed “genuine remorse and insight”, the Crown said, which alongside a guilty plea, no previous convictions, and his youth, meant he received more than 50% in sentence reductions.
He was sentenced to nine months’ home detention, 200 hours of community work, and ordered to pay $2950 of reparations.
Onehimo Palesau:
Palesau entered the house only briefly and likely did not have much understanding of what was going on, the judge said.
“It was my view that he got caught up in the actions of others and had no control over what happened.”
Palesau was sentenced to nine months’ home detention, 300 hours of community work, and ordered to pay $2950 of reparations.