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An up-and-coming rugby player who kidnapped his girlfriend amid a drunken stoush – described by a judge as a terrifying 15 minutes of captivity that ended with her death on an Auckland motorway – has been sentenced to home detention instead of prison.
Jovan Aroha Zachariah Pora, 22, was initially charged with the manslaughter of Katelyn Rua-Tuhou in the early hours of Boxing Day 2022.
The Crown argued during his trial in June that Rua-Tuhou had opened the door to Pora’s car as he drove along the South Western Motorway - resulting in the car swerving, hitting a barrier and her being fatally ejected from the vehicle – only because she feared for her safety inside the car.
Jurors rejected the “fright-response” manslaughter allegation, acquitting Pora of that charge after the defence argued Rua-Tuhou had a history of opening doors in moving cars while intoxicated.
NZ Herald
