The Star: December 21, 2023

Thursday December 21 2023 The Star
• From page 1
Crown prosecutor Barnaby
Hawes said at the pair’s
sentencing while the jury
found Smith did not act with
murderous intent, both men
were “responsible” for what
happened.
Precisely what occurred
the night of Connor’s death
will never be known, Hawes
said.
“What is known is these two
men armed themselves with
lethal weapons, travelled to the
• By Sam Coughlan
FORMER CRICKETER Paul
McEwan celebrated his 70th
birthday in style, playing
72 holes of golf in a day at
Waitikiri to raise money for two
Canterbury charities.
McEwan estimated over
$30,000 had been raised so
far with donations still rolling
in. The Canterbury Neonatal
Unit Trust Fund, set up by
McEwan and his wife Julie 32
years ago after the death of
their son to provide care for
sick or premature babies, and
BrainTree, a wellness centre
for people with neurological
disabilities, will share the
funds.
The former Canterbury
and New Zealand batter said
Tuesday was a “fantastic day”.
“It was pleasing to be able
to celebrate this and raise
money towards a good cause,”
he said.
McEwan shot 75 in his first
round and continued that form
throughout the day, shooting 75
again in the second, 78 in the
third and 75 in the fourth.
He achieved a personal goal
to score in the 70s on each full
address where the party was
held, and both fired shots.”
Their actions led to the “worst
consequences imaginable”.
Justice Melanie Harland said
Sparks also had an extensive
criminal history. She accepted
since he was imprisoned
following Connor’s death he
had made “considerable steps”
to turn his life around.
“In my view, you are
genuinely remorseful for your
role in the offending.”
At trial, the Crown alleged
round, but wasn’t able to go
under 300 for the four rounds.
Said McEwan: “I got a double
bogey on the last hole of the
fourth round so just missed
out on another personal goal to
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Killer ‘remorseful’ for manslaughter of teen
both men responded to a call
for help from Sparks’ son, as
the party got out of control
and he was threatened, by
arming themselves with loaded
firearms.
About 11pm the two men
arrived at the party. Sparks’
son pointed out the group
of people acting aggressively
towards him. Sparks
approached them and there
was a verbal argument. Gang
signs were pulled and there was
yelling.
Four rounds in a day and
$30k-plus for great causes
GOLF CHALLENGE: Paul McEwan celebrates yet another
successful putt on the first hole of his fourth round.
PHOTOS: SAM COUGHLAN
break 300 for the day.”
In the fourth round he was
joined by big-hitting former
Black Cap Rod Latham and
friend Kevin Simcock.
Latham shot 78, Simcock 79,
Two shots were eventually
fired, one from each of the
firearms, one by each of the
defendants.
The two shots were about six
seconds apart. The Crown said
the most likely scenario was
that Smith fired the fatal shot
that struck Whitehead and that
Sparks fired a shot into the air,
likely from the car.
Whitehead was shot in the
chest. His injuries were not
survivable.
– NZ Herald
with the trio making with 10
birdies.
McEwan rated his best shot of
the day as his second on the fifth
hole of the final round, where he
got to “within about two feet of
the flag”.
“Easy tap-in for birdie, my
caddy told me I’d been short the
last three rounds on this hole
so should try the seven-iron for
this one.
“Definitely a case of caddy’s
influence.”
McEwan finished about 6pm,
12 hours after teeing off, and
celebrated with his family.
“We had a good party, my
two grandkids made sure it was
a birthday party and not just
about golf for the day.”
In Brief
NEWS 3
More smart bins rolled
out this summer
Fifty-five new ‘smart’ bins will
be rolling out across the city this
summer. The bins have sensor
technology that provides the city
council’s maintenance contractor
with daily data on how full each
bin is. “We only have to send
out staff to empty the bins when
required, rather than having to
manually check each one, saving
time and money,” said city council
acting head of parks Al Hardy.
In 2021, 129 smart bins were
installed.
Entire precinct in
council ownership
Te Papa Ōtākaro/The Avon
River Precinct is now under the
exclusive stewardship of the city
council with the transfer of its
final feature – the North Frame
pedestrian bridge – from the
Crown. Stretching alongside
the Avon River from the
hospital to Fitzgerald Ave, the
precinct includes the Margaret
Mahy playground, Canterbury
Earthquake memorial and
the Avon Loop. It spans about
48,000m 2 and has added 500 trees,
45,000 plants, and 34 artworks and
installations to the central city.
Libby app popular
Readers have hit a major milestone
with one million eBooks,
eAudiobooks and eMagazines
borrowed from Christchurch City
Libraries OverDrive’s Libby app
account this year. Libby is an app
where users can borrow digital
items from the library straight
to their devices for free. The alltime
total of city libraries items
downloaded from Libby hit five
million in October.
City council assets vote
In last week’s issue, Celeste
Donovan was omitted from how
city councillors voted over whether
to cede control of city assets like
Lyttelton Port Company, Orion
and the airport to city-council
owned Christchurch City Holdings
Ltd. Donovan voted against the
proposal, which was carried
8-7. Meanwhile on page 16 city
councillor Sam MacDonald
writes an opinion piece on the
contentious subject.
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