\u201cMr Te\u2019Ao drove forward deliberately, driving over Mr Al-Obaidy and dragging his body beneath the vehicle for a distance of approximately three metres,\u201d court documents state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe act of driving over Mr Al-Obaidy caused further significant damage to Mr Al-Obaidy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fatal robbery has been previously reported, but for legal reasons the final act of brutality by Te\u2019Ao, who turned 23 last week, has not been outlined until now.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ran him over as he lay helpless and dying in the road,\u201d Justice Grant Powell told Te\u2019Ao today as he considered whether to impose a 17-year minimum term of imprisonment for the \u201chigh degree of brutality and callousness\u201d of the killing.<\/p>\n
But based in part on Te\u2019Ao\u2019s youth and troubled childhood, the judge decided by a narrow margin to instead order a life sentence with a minimum term of imprisonment of 14 years and six months for the murder conviction.<\/p>\n
Parker, now 24, and Patolo, 21, were each sentenced to four years and 10 months\u2019 imprisonment after the Crown agreed to drop murder charges against them in exchange for guilty pleas to manslaughter.<\/p>\n
Al-Obaidy\u2019s family had earlier asked for sentences that showed no mercy for the defendants. They should be \u201cso absolute, so unwavering, that it serves as a warning for generations to come\u201d, the court was told.<\/p>\n
\u2018Totally helpless\u2019<\/p>\n
Court documents show all three defendants should have been confined to their homes when the killing occurred in October 2024.<\/p>\n
Te\u2019Ao had been recently released on parole, after a prison stint from age 19 to 21 for another robbery, and was awaiting trial for new charges of assault and wilful damage.<\/p>\n
Parker, meanwhile, was serving a sentence of home detention and Patolo was also on electronically monitored bail.<\/p>\n
Howard Te’Ao appeared in the High Court at Auckland after he was charged with the murder of businessman Ahmed Al-Obaidy. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Parker had previously met the victim online and had arranged to meet him that night for sex in exchange for cash, alcohol and tobacco.<\/p>\n
\u201cShould we do this [racial expletive] over … ????\u201d she then asked in a message to Te\u2019Ao, her boyfriend, suggesting that they \u201ctake his car and all of his stuff, ayy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Al-Obaidy picked up Parker around 9pm after having purchased beer, wine and cigarettes and having withdrawn $100 cash, court documents state.<\/p>\n
The two went to one of Al-Obaidy\u2019s vacant rental homes in Unsworth Heights before picking up Te\u2019Ao and Patolo around 10.30pm, after Parker suggested they all attend a party together.<\/p>\n
Shortly thereafter, as Te\u2019Ao sat in the back seat behind Al-Obaidy, he pulled out a 32cm kitchen knife and held it to the victim\u2019s neck.<\/p>\n
Al-Obaidy was assaulted and killed a short time later, with a knife wound puncturing his liver and abdominal aorta.<\/p>\n
Patolo had not been aware of the plan to rob the businessman before getting in the car, but he was responsible for the first act of violence, the judge noted today.<\/p>\n
Parker\u2019s case, meanwhile, was the opposite: she knew of the robbery plan but did not inflict any violence. <\/p>\n
All three of them should receive prison sentences for the roles they played in the robbery and homicide, Crown prosecutor Ryan Benic argued.<\/p>\n
Justice Powell agreed, noting that Al-Obaidy would have been \u201cextremely vulnerable\u201d when a knife was pressed to his neck from behind while driving and \u201ceven more totally helpless\u201d once he collapsed in the road.<\/p>\n
Defence lawyer Mark Ryan, representing Te\u2019Ao on the murder charge, acknowledged that such a brutal killing would usually qualify for a 17-year minimum term of imprisonment.<\/p>\n
But his client\u2019s youth and his \u201ctorturous upbringing\u201d would make such an outcome manifestly unjust, he argued, noting that his client had written a letter of apology to the victim\u2019s family.<\/p>\n
Amy Parker pleaded guilty to manslaughter after she lured businessman Ahmed Al-Obaidy to a robbery in which he was stabbed to death by Parker’s boyfriend. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Parker, too, had a difficult upbringing marred by a mother who abused drugs when she was pregnant, defence lawyer John Munro noted.<\/p>\n
Although she had some successes in her youth, managing to become an Auckland champion in shot put, she ended up living on the streets at an early age.<\/p>\n
Parker asked to read a letter of apology aloud in court, but the judge declined, noting that he had already seen it. <\/p>\n
Her lawyer asked for an additional sentence reduction based on whakam\u0101, a M\u0101ori term relating to her family\u2019s shame.<\/p>\n
While their roles were different, Justice Powell emphasised that all three were ultimately responsible for the \u201csenseless and tragic death\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018A family wronged\u2019<\/p>\n
Al-Obaidy was remembered as \u201cthe heartbeat\u201d of his extended family.<\/p>\n
In a victim impact statement read aloud by prosecutors today, the victim\u2019s brother said he did not write out of \u201cblind rage\u201d but wanted sentences that would send a strong message.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a boy whose laughter echoed through our halls, whose pranks were legendary, and whose intelligence was only ever surpassed by his kindness,\u201d the sibling said, describing Al-Obaidy as someone who \u201cembodied everything that is good and noble in this world\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI recall, with profound pain, the day our family gathered to bid him farewell as he embarked on his journey to New Zealand – a land of safety and dreams,\u201d the brother continued. <\/p>\n
\u201cMy father, with the wisdom of a man entrusting his prized possession to the world, looked him in the eye and said, \u2018Do not be a burden upon them. Offer your every skill, love your community, build your family upon the pillars of love, and raise your children to be citizens of the world.\u2019 <\/p>\n
Joseph Patolo appears in the High Court at Auckland, where he was initially charged with murdering businessman Ahmed Al-Obaidy. He later instead pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
\u201cAhmed honoured that command with every fibre of his being. He worked tirelessly… His reputation was untarnished. He was a pillar of the community, a beloved friend and the pride of our name. This was the man you extinguished. This is the soul you have stolen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brother noted that since Al-Obaidy\u2019s death his company \u2013 \u201cthe very vessel of his family\u2019s survival\u201d \u2013 had been sold at a loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe release of even one of you, or a lenient sentence, would be a profound injustice,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo show mercy to the merciless is to send a chilling message to the world: that the life of an honest man is cheap …<\/p>\n
\u201cJustice … is the only answer to the void you have carved into our existence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brother asked for the most severe penalty for the defendants so his brother\u2019s sacrifice wouldn\u2019t be in vain.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet it show that the blood of the innocent cries out for justice, and that we, as a civilised society, will always answer that call.\u201d <\/p>\n
He signed off the statement \u201cwith the grief of a sibling and the fire of a family wronged\u201d.<\/p>\n