"I should be furious with you, I should hate you, but I don't, I take pity on you, I feel sorry for you."
Those were the words of 16-year-old Connor Whitehead's dad, to the man responsible for ending his son's life in November 2021.
Joshua Smith, who fatally gunned the teen down, and Daniel Sparks, were both found guilty of manslaughter in May, following a two-and half-week trial at the High Court in Christchurch.
The pair were both sentenced today by Justice Melanie Harland. She told them, "There was nothing [Connor] could do to protect himself".
The Christchurch teenager was an innocent bystander at a birthday party in Casebrook, which had spiralled out of control.
Joshua Smith and another man, Daniel Sparks, have been sentenced over the teen's 2021 shooting death. (Source: 1News)
Smith will now serve seven years behind bars, while Sparks will be imprisoned for six years and three months.
'He was the best'
Members of Connor family took the opportunity to read victim impact statements in court today, sharing memories of their loved one.
His aunt Angela Whitehead was first, telling the court "Connor was the kindest, sweetest boy you’d ever meet".
"You asked if Connor was a good kid? He was the best."
The teen's older sister Cordelia was in tears as she shared her statement.
"The past year and a half has been the absolute hardest year of my life."
"I've never missed anyone more in my life than I have Connor and I wish he were here more than anything. Life without him has been so hard."
His father James Whitehead said "It’s the future Connor I think about so often".
His mother Cheryl Mirren told the court "he hadn't even had his first girlfriend, or lived his life at all. You took it from him".
"I won’t be able to my little brother at my wedding or to be an uncle to my future kids," his sister said.
She told the court Connor wanted to be a lawyer.
"He also wanted to make more music, he also had a lot of hopes and dreams and now he won't get to live those out."
Much was said about Connor's love for music.
Connor's stepmum Laura Hay said he "loved to fill the room with song, singing him away to himself at every opportunity".
She said she met him when he was two, describing him as "the most handsome, delightful little boy that I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet".
She described feeling "exhausted, drained and numb".
Mirren said that Connor's absence has left their family "shattered in deeper ways than I can ever explain".
His father said "t
As Justice Harland delivered the sentences, she acknowledged Connor’s family and friends.
“All of us here today have listened to the heartfelt stress felt by the victims of Connor’s death, these are members of his family, people who cared for him and loved him dearly.
"It is not hard to see from what we have all heard about the person Connor was, how distressing the manner of his death has been for them. Because he was a young man with his future ahead of him, this has been particularly difficult for his family,” she said.
Never intended to hurt anyone
She also acknowledged the remorse from Smith and Sparks.
Smith's lawyer James Rapley re-emphasised today that his client never intended to hurt anyone that night.
In the trial the jury heard the pair just wanted to scare people and scatter crowds.
"You intentionally, Mr Smith, discharged the firearm, even though you did not intend to kill anyone when you did so," the judge said.
But she didn't accept that Smith didn't know the gun was loaded.
"There would be no reason for you to pull the trigger on the shotgun, if you did not think it was loaded," she said today.
"The act of firing a sawn-off weapon at chest height into the driveway of a party is extremely dangerous. Not only that, but the fact you were simply shooting into a dark area at the address was a grossly reckless thing to do. Connor was vulnerable. The nature of the discharge of the firearm, it's height and its location meant there was nothing he could do to protect himself."
Speaking to Sparks, she called out his involvement in "making arrangements to evade the Police and get rid of the evidence".
While both men are now behind bars for the killing, James Whitehead told the court, "no sentence can compare to the life sentence we received that night".
Additional reporting by Laura James
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