A woman involved in a 2018 kidnapping and murder can now be named — seven years after the crime took place.
Marica Toalei’s attempt to maintain name suppression ended in the Supreme Court this month.
Toalei was 16 years old when she and two others kidnapped Dimetrius Pairama in an abandoned Māngere house where the 17-year-old was killed.
The two other offenders, Toko (Ashley) Shane Winter and Kerry Te Amo, were convicted of Pairama’s kidnapping and murder in 2019, and jailed for life.
Toalei, who had foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and a mild intellectual disability, was initially judged unfit to stand trial, detained in a secure facility, and granted name suppression.
Toalei was later found fit to stand trial and was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to five years and 10 months imprisonment in 2023.
The jury could not decide on the charge of murder and the Crown did not seek a retrial on that charge.
Toalei was denied permanent name suppression.
“The judge took the view there would be no significant effect on rehabilitation where the applicant had declined to fully engage with the rehabilitative programmes on offer,” the Supreme Court decision said.
“The judge also considered that, as a detainee of a secure facility, the applicant would receive the necessary support to deal with the impact of any publication. As to the latter, the media had indicated any publication would include the fact the applicant was only convicted for kidnapping, making it clear she was not convicted of murder.”
Toalei appealed the decision in the Court of Appeal last year but lost and then sought leave to appeal from the Supreme Court.
Her lawyer argued the Court of Appeal should have applied youth principles to Toalei’s case and considered her intellectual disability.
The Supreme Court said the applicant “was not very young” by the time of the Court of Appeal judgement, and the court had considered Toalei’s disability.
The decision said Toalei had completed her sentence at the time of the Court of Appeal judgement but her secure care order was extended by 18 months on December 4, 2024.
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