But the Crown sought a \u201cspecial care recipient order\u201d, typical of most homicide cases involving insanity, in which a defendant is held in a lockdown mental health facility for at least 10 years. <\/p>\n
Police investigating the scene where security guard Ramandeep Singh was murdered nearly two years ago. <\/p>\n
The defence, citing in part the defendant\u2019s youth, instead asked Justice Layne Harvey to impose a similarly named but distinct \u201cordinary care recipient order\u201d, which would allow his lockdown status to be reviewed after three years. <\/p>\n
The judge decided the less restrictive of the two options best balanced the teen\u2019s rehabilitation and the protection of the community. But he emphasised it did not guarantee freedom. <\/p>\n
\u201cI must still warn you that you will likely only be able to one day rejoin the community if you learn how to control your anger and not follow your anti-social friends,\u201d Justice Harvey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have been involved in two violent events, including where a man was injured and, tragically, where another has died. So you need to work very hard with your clinicians to prove that you will never seriously hurt anyone ever again. <\/p>\n
\u201cYour future will depend on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Unrelenting violence\u2019<\/p>\n
During his involvement hearing in April, prosecutors had a lower standard of proof \u2013 \u201con the balance of probabilities\u201d rather than \u201cbeyond a reasonable doubt\u201d \u2013 than had it been a standard trial. <\/p>\n
Still, judges have noted, the cases against the teen appeared strong.<\/p>\n
The screwdriver attack, for instance, was on video.<\/p>\n
The victim was another teen who, on the night of July 20, 2023, was targeted by the defendant and others with a barrage of punches and kicks in the backseat of a car. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter being dragged out of the vehicle, [the victim] screamed and tried to protect himself by curling into the foetal position,\u201d Justice Harvey recalled of the attack in Henderson, which he described as \u201cunrelenting and extreme violence\u201d. <\/p>\n
Police at Royal Reserve in Massey after Ramandeep Singh was beaten to death. Photo \/ Jason Oxenham<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used a screwdriver to hit [him] many times, stopping only after an associate pulled you away and told you, \u2018No stabbing\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The victim woke up in hospital with a chipped tooth, various other injuries and apparent memory loss. <\/p>\n
But the defendant wouldn\u2019t be charged with injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm until months later, when detectives seized his phone and found the video during the unrelated murder investigation. <\/p>\n
\u2018Covered in blood\u2019<\/p>\n
The murder occurred in December 2023 at Massey\u2019s Royal Reserve when the teen and older co-defendant Lorenzo Tangira, who is serving a life sentence<\/a>, turned their aggression on the small-statured security guard. <\/p>\n Singh, 25, had moved to Auckland from India five years earlier<\/a> to pursue higher education.<\/p>\n After a night of drinking at a nearby home, the two co-defendants wandered over to the park about 200m away. The teenager was the first to engage the security guard in an altercation, but Tangira quickly jumped in, according to the summary of facts that Tangira agreed to when he pleaded guilty to murder. <\/p>\n \u201c[Tangira] grabbed Mr Singh by the rear of his hi-vis vest and swung him around and proceeded to forcefully punch him repeatedly in the face,\u201d the document states.<\/p>\n Singh fell to the ground, bleeding from his facial injuries, before scrambling to his work car and trying to escape the scene. The teenager jumped on the bonnet, trying to stop him.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the pursuit of Mr Singh, Mr Tangira\u2019s hand was shut in the door of the vehicle,\u201d court documents state. \u201cAfter this, Mr Tangira tried to reach Mr Singh through the back of the vehicle.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Mr Singh was eventually pulled from the vehicle, the assault by [the teen] and Mr Tangira continued.\u201d<\/p>\n He was punched, kicked and stomped on, knocking out his teeth and breaking his jaw in multiple places. His skull, cheekbones and orbital sockets sustained multiple fractures and he suffered significant brain damage, an autopsy would reveal.<\/p>\n \u201cFootwear impressions showed kicking and stomping-type damage to his face, throat and neck,\u201d documents state.<\/p>\n Nearby residents heard Singh\u2019s calls for help during the attack and alerted police. But by the time officers arrived, the defendants were gone and Singh had died.<\/p>\n Police arrived at the teen\u2019s home about 1.34am, where they found his mother actively trying to remove blood stains from clothes with bleach. Both defendants were at the home and the teen was acting \u201cloud, agitated and aggressive\u201d. <\/p>\n Police would later find the teen\u2019s palm print on the bonnet of Singh\u2019s damaged work vehicle and noticed what seemed to be recent injuries to his hands. <\/p>\n Intercepted calls would reveal he had returned to the home \u201ccovered in blood\u201d and promptly took two showers, while his father burned his shoes after noticing they were \u201cfull of blood\u201d. He showed both parents an incriminating photo of the victim, which they encouraged him to delete. <\/p>\n Additionally, a witness at the scene had heard someone yell out the teen\u2019s name, followed by the statement: \u201cGet the f*** out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Treatment options<\/p>\n During this week\u2019s hearing, Crown solicitor Alysha McClintock noted a psychological report recommended the more restrictive of the two treatment options for the teen.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is an escalation of very serious violence,\u201d she said of the two cases. <\/p>\n A conservative approach would best serve the public\u2019s interests, especially after a health assessor\u2019s report finding him to be a high risk of further violent offending, she said. <\/p>\n But the judge ultimately sided with defence lawyers James Olsen and Ron Mansfield, KC, who argued a 10-year minimum \u2013 on top of the two years he has already been in custody \u2013 would be crushing for a person so young and possibly demotivate him from doing the hard work necessary to re-enter society someday. <\/p>\n Many of the risk factors that are currently identified \u201care considered dynamic and changeable\u201d with rehabilitation, Olsen said. <\/p>\n Justice Harvey noted the report recommending the special care order did not consider that the defence had already conceded the teen should currently be in a lockdown facility regardless of the minimum term. <\/p>\n The report noted the teen suffers a mild intellectual disability, ADHD and foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He struggles to manage emotional responses, especially when under the influence of substances, and he is easily led by anti-social friends, various reports have stated. <\/p>\n \u201cSituations where you feel challenged or wronged and are seeking payback can make this risk worse,\u201d the judge noted. <\/p>\n But ultimately, the judge said, he didn\u2019t see much difference between the two options. <\/p>\n Background of trauma<\/p>\n The judge acknowledged his permanent name suppression decision went against the wishes of Singh\u2019s family and, seemingly, the defendant himself. <\/p>\n It was also noted, however, the teen\u2019s stance has changed during different interviews. His care manager at the Mason Clinic advocated for suppression, stating in a report that because of the patient\u2019s difficulties with higher-level reasoning he lacked capacity to give an opinion.<\/p>\n Making his name public would likely add to his frustration and impede his rehabilitation, the care manager said. <\/p>\n It was also suggested it could impede his eventual transition into the community, with community service organisations not wanting to work with him if they knew what he had done. <\/p>\n The judge worried if that was to be the case, the only rehabilitation services in the community that would take him would be those that serve others with \u201cpro-criminal or pro-violence attitudes\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven his tendency to be easily influenced by anti-social peers, this would be concerning for his successful rehabilitation and reintegration,\u201d the judge said. <\/p>\n He noted the teen\u2019s background of trauma, which included exposure to family violence, parental substance abuse and more than 20 Oranga Tamaraki reports dating to when he was 5 months old. His mother also suffered mental health issues and was in and out of his life, the judge said. <\/p>\n The Crown argued any consequences of publication would be no more than what is usually associated with that type of offending. <\/p>\n McClintock argued the test for suppression was not the teen\u2019s prospects for rehabilitation but whether publication would cause extreme hardship. Given his youth and disabilities, the judge said the two concepts were intertwined. <\/p>\n \u201cSignificant rehabilitation will be essential for [him] to live a stable and fulfilling life despite his many disadvantages,\u201d the judge said. <\/p>\n He also acknowledged but ultimately disagreed with the prosecution\u2019s argument that the public\u2019s interest in knowing who has committed such violent acts outweighs the other factors. <\/p>\n Knowledge of the teen\u2019s identity wouldn\u2019t have helped Singh given the randomness of the attack, the judge said. <\/p>\n \u201cI must assume that those persons involved in [the teen\u2019s] care and treatment will act responsibly in both categorising his risk and managing extensions of his secure care recipient order,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThis safeguard reduces the public safety interest in knowing his identity.\u201d<\/p>\nLorenzo Tangira during an appearance in the High Court at Auckland over the killing security guard Ramandeep Singh in December 2023. Photo \/ Jason Oxenham<\/p>\n
Specialist police investigate Ramandeep Singh\u2019s death in Massey. Photo \/ Hayden Woodward<\/p>\n
Murdered security guard Ramandeep Singh with his mother, Paramjeet Kaur. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n