It’s a fact defence lawyers used as a mitigating factor in trial and sentencing after Jack and Shannon Tana were charged with numerous offences for their role in the fight.
The judge agreed, saying the Crown had pushed charges against the men that were too numerous and too serious.
“They’ve taken every little crime that you’ve committed and put them into charges,” Judge John McDonald said at a recent sentencing in the Whangārei District Court.
Jack and Shannon Tana were initially charged with several violence charges – including injuring with intent to injure, kidnapping, threats to kill and home invasion – after a dispute that kicked off in Kaikohe on December 22, 2022.
The victim, Murphy Tana, was 193cm tall and 130kg, and got into a two-against-one fight that largely involved punches to the head and him being knocked to the ground outside the property.
The court heard Shannon Tana got in a car and ran over Murphy Tana’s feet, which left a minor abrasion.
Murphy Tana did not seek medical attention for seven days, and by then an infection had set in.
In February he visited the hospital again with sepsis. His ankle was drained of fluid and he was put on a drip before being discharged.
He returned to the ward again and was warned about the gravity of the situation, and the possibility of amputation if he didn’t take antibiotics as prescribed.
The court heard Murphy Tana self-discharged against medical advice and police were required to do a welfare check. This occurred on three or four separate occasions.
His leg eventually had to be amputated, which became the focal point of the trial and the sentencing.
The case went through two trials in Kaikohe – the first abandoned, and the second halted when Judge John McDonald told the Crown they had over-charged the pair, prompting negotiations to drop several counts and accept pleas to lesser charges.
He was warned multiple times
At sentencing in the Whangārei District Court, Shannon Tana’s lawyer Adam Pell criticised the charges and the length of time to resolution.
“Home invasion? They didn’t even enter the home. They’re outside on the property,” Pell submitted.
“The purpose of the home invasion, as your Honour knows well, is for that kicking in the door and beating the living daylights out of somebody in their home, in their sanctuary, in their area of comfort. Not in the environment of the front of the bach.”
Pell said he had requested Murphy Tana’s medical evidence for 18 months, which he said was “dumped on us” in the middle of trial one, forcing a mistrial.
“What we have here sir, is a burgeoning and a conflation of issues which ultimately all dovetail into the ultimate tragic loss of Mr Murphy Tana’s leg,” Pell said.
Pell said Murphy Tana was warned multiple times by medical professionals that if “he keeps it up, he will lose it”.
“That’s ultimately what’s happened there,” Pell said.
Judge John McDonald said the Crown had over-charged. Photo / NZME
Pell reserved some of his strongest criticism for the pre‑sentence report, describing it as “absolute nonsense” for labelling the pair “extremely serious offenders” and fixating on the amputation.
He said the defence had been trying to negotiate with the Crown for three and a half years, all while Shannon Tana complied with electronic monitored (EM) bail.
“They also mention total non-compliance, firearms, police warrants, PSOs [police safety orders] being issued, knives and bats being brandished.
“Where’s the breach of EM bail?” Pell questioned the court.
“If the police are called out and PSOs and knives and bats being brandished, why was he left on EM bail for the rest of the period?”
Prosecutors insisted the agreed summary of facts should guide sentencing, and said the car was intentionally used as a weapon, contributing to the eventual loss of Murphy Tana’s leg.
Charges were ‘too numerous, too serious’
Crown lawyer Alex Goodwin sought a starting point of four years’ imprisonment and said the amputation, family upheaval, and financial losses were significant aggravating factors.
Judge McDonald pushed back on the Crown’s version of events, saying the charges laid were “too numerous and too serious”.
“I’ve indicated to your lawyers, and back through the interview, that I thought the charges offered by the Crown, which they sought to put to the jury on, were over-charging and they’ve taken every little crime that you’ve committed and put them into charges,” the judge said.
“That’s entirely a matter for the Crown solicitor and I make no further comment on it.”
Judge McDonald said he did not agree the summary of facts reflected what he heard at trial.
“My memory of this was quite clear, that this was not as serious as what the Crown first made out to be,” Judge McDonald said.
“I’m not sentencing them to prison because that’s unfair. What sort of justice system is that?”
Judge McDonald accepted that since the offending occurred, both men had turned their lives around.
Shannon Tana was sentenced to eight months’ home detention and Jack Tana to six months.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.