A man jailed for life for killing his girlfriend in a New Plymouth house fire maintained his innocence at his sentencing claiming he was still “grieving the loss of a much-loved partner”.
Supermarket worker Emma Field, 21, was alive but likely unconscious when she burned to death in the 2022 blaze.
A jury found Leigh Matthew Beer, 33, guilty of murder, arson and assault with intent to injure after a three-week trial in June.
The assault charge related to an altercation with a passer-by who attempted to put out the fire.
Beer appeared for sentencing in the High Court at New Plymouth on Wednesday.
Through his lawyer, Julian Hannam, Beer maintained he didn’t kill Emma Field.
“I’m conscious comments I’m about to make are going to jar with many of those in the room,” Hannam warned, “but they are nevertheless the instructions which I have and are consistent with the defence case which was advanced in this court.
“It’s clear the defendant does not agree with the verdicts that were passed by the jury. He maintains his innocence to all three of those charges therefore it is logical that there is no remorse for those charges which he faced in court.
“What he does maintain is that he is grieving the loss of his much-loved partner.”
Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke said Beer’s offending was “a cool, callous, depraved murder” and asked for a minimum jail term of 19 years which Hannam did not contest.
Earlier, the court had heard victim impact statements from Emma Field’s parents.
Fighting back tears her mother, Kylie, said having to write about how a child was taken from her was something no parent should have to do.
“My baby girl was taken way too soon by someone she loved and trusted. There are so many questions I have that will never be answered. The biggest is, why, why, why?”
She never got to see her daughter and “best friend” again after enjoying a lunch together on the day Emma died.
“If I had known it was going to be our last goodbye, I would have hugged her tighter and longer and made that last kiss and goodbye last longer, as long as I could.”
Kylie Field felt she had let Emma down.
“It hurts like hell. I am her mother, and I should have been there to protect her.
“We took Leigh into our home not knowing what he had done to Emma. We fed and clothed, both Leigh and his son out of our own pocket. Never asked for anything, thinking he had tried to save Emma. I feel like an idiot for being suckered into his lies.”
She said it was galling to sit through the trial and watch Beer show no emotion as details of how Emma “someone he supposedly loved and cared for” died.
“I hate him. He deserves to rot in hell and never get out of jail to hurt anyone else.”
Emma’s father Erin’s victim impact statement was read out by a member of court staff.
Erin Field, who had supported Beer at his first police interview, said he was a “coward” and a “liar” who had hidden behind the legal system instead of admitting what he had done.
“You betrayed our trust, and then you had the audacity to come into my house and play the victim, carrying around Emma’s photo like you gave a f#@*, with your crocodile tears … I feel like an idiot, but mark my words. I will never make that mistake again.”
Justice Karen Grau acknowledged Emma Field’s whānau and friends.
“It is very clear that Emma was a much loved and loving family member, a bright young soul who lit up the lives of everyone around her, your pain, your anger and your hurt has been heartbreaking to hear.”
Justice Grau praised the Fields for the “grace and dignity” they had conducted themselves during the court process even going so far to comfort Beer’s mother after the verdicts were handed down.
In sentencing, she the fire that had killed Emma Field has been lit by someone holding an open flame to the bed and bedding in the master bedroom until the fire was capable of sustaining itself.
Emma’s body was found under the window of the master bedroom partially under the overturned bed and mattress.
Justice Grau said she was alive when the fire started but died from its effects
“The smoke found in her airways demonstrated that she had been alive, but thankfully, she would have been unconscious when the fire reached her.”
She said in the early stages of the fire it would’ve been possible for Beer to save Field but he chose not to.
“In the first minute and a half or two minutes, two minutes of the fire beginning, there would have been an opportunity for Emma to get out, or for someone to get her out, but she was helpless. Mr Beer you could have saved her instead you left her to die.”
Justice Grau did not believe Emma Field’s murder was premeditated but echoed previous violent offending of Beer’s where something had set him off “but this time with tragic circumstances” and her death involved an “element of determination”.
She said Field’s vulnerability and Beer’s callous behaviour after her death were also aggravating factors.
Justice Grau jailed Beer for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years.
rnz.co.nz
