Shooter jailed for manslaughter

A Maketu man's 'unforgivable act” of shooting a man point blank in the chest with a shotgun has robbed a close knit family and community of a man described as the Robin Hood of the town, a court has heard.

Tyrone Daniel Flavell, 20, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison by Justice Susan Thomas in the Tauranga High Court today. He was previously found guilty of manslaughter on November 20 by a jury.


Isaac Bushell's body was found in a park in Maketu on December 8, 2013. Photo: Daniel Hines.

The charge stems from the death of 46-year-old Isaac Dale Bushell, who was found dead with a shotgun wound to his chest in a park on December 8, 2013.

Flavell was arrested after police stopped him and four other people leaving the area shortly after the body was discovered. A firearm was recovered at a Maketu property.

According to the summary of facts, the pair had been at the same party in the beachside town.

In the early hours of December 8, Flavell and girlfriend Sam Reid left the party and drove to the nearby park. Isaac later approached the pair, where an altercation between him and Flavell ensued. The former punched the 20-year-old twice, making him bleed.

The altercation is understood to be over Isaac's unrest with the pair's relationship, with Sam a former girlfriend of patched Mongrel Mob member Darkie Cable who was in prison.

Flavell, after loading a .12 gauge shotgun that was behind the passenger seat of his ute, got out of the vehicle and as the pair walked toward each other pointed the gun at Isaac's chest before shooting.

In front of a crowded public gallery, a number of friends and family spoke emotionally about the impact on the family and the community, including his father and partner of five children.

Raymond Bushell, Isaac's father, says he continues to be overwhelmed with grief and every time he pictures his son lying in a pool of own blood his stomach churns with sickness.

To this day the 79-year-old believes Flavell and Sam's actions of leaving his son with a shotgun wound to his chest as opposed to seeking medical assistance and calls the action "callous".

A keen hunter, Isaac is referred to as the man in the community who provided for everyone through his hunting and skills.

Choking back tears Raymond adds Isaac became the Robin Hood of Maketu through his generous actions – something now ruined for everyone.

'You stuffed up and now you owe us,” he said.

'I feel like my life has been taken away from me. You have taken away my natural ability to communicate with people.”

Simone Barclay, Isaac's partner of 25 years, has cried every day since Isaac was killed and still can't comprehend the loss.

She looks back on the fateful night wondering whether instead of letting an intoxicated Isaac go back out to party she should have put him to bed at 9.30pm.

'I could have pushed him over [he was that intoxicated] and put him to bed,” she said. 'I should have.”

After submissions from Crown prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones and lawyer Kate Anderson, on behalf of Paul Mabey QC, Justice Thomas' starting point for the length of the prison term was seven-and-a-half years.

This was then reduced to five years and eight months after taking account of Flavell being a first offender, being 19 at the time of the incident, his offer to plead guilty to manslaughter a week before the trial began, and his remorse.

She doesn't agree with Greg's argument that the shooting was a vigilante action, but admits the evidence suggests Flavell shot Isaac deliberately.

'You intended to shoot Mr Bushell and cause bodily harm,” says Kate.

'He knew what damage a shotgun could do.”

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3 comments

sentence

Posted on 19-12-2014 15:06 | By surfsup

At times I am at a loss to understand the justice system. A man is killed , because the offender was 19, his first offence, his offer to plead to manslaughter and not murder means he gets a reduced sentence of 5 years and 8 months, is that a life is worth, compare this to the ambulance driver 18 years sentence with a non parole of 8, how does the justice system justify the sentence for killing a man.


Life too cheap!!!

Posted on 19-12-2014 21:04 | By kb

5yrs 8 mths what a joke!!this is where the problem starts with society today, the justice system!!


Typical

Posted on 20-12-2014 11:07 | By jim.jones

I'm sorry but this is atrocious! How many times have we seen drunken violent attacks leading to deaths in this country where the perpetrator gets a lenient sentence? This is disgraceful! Manslaughter is a huge weakness in our justice system. It shouldn't matter what the attackers motives were. If you hold a shotgun to someone's chest and pull the trigger, what the heck do you thinks going to happen?


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