Waipouri died in December 2006 after a brutal attack in his Palmerston North apartment during which he sustained multiple internal and external injuries including having the tip of his penis sliced off. The injuries, particularly to his head and neck, were so severe that a pathologist, Dr. Katherine White, was unable to pinpoint the exact cause of death. After a CAT scan Dr John Goulden told the court he'd never seen "such severe frontal fractures on any living person." Arnopp, 21, and co-accused Andre Gilling, 18, were still at the blood-spattered apartment with Waipouri's body when police arrived. They had taken marijuana, party pills and drunk alcohol before the attack. When police entered the apartment the pair were attempting to wash bloodstained clothing.

Arnopp's sentence, handed down in the Palmerston North High Court today by Justice Alan MacKenzie, has delighted gay lawyer and MP Charles Chauvel, who says that "justice has been done." Chauvel is a strong proponent of proposed changes to the crimes act which would see 'gay panic' struck off as a mitigating factor in court, and for the legal system to acknowledge hate crimes.

Last December Arnopp pleaded guilty part-way through a trial. Gilling, who continued to deny murdering Waipouri, will be re-tried later this year after the original trial jury delivered a hung verdict over his role in the attack.

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15 year sentence for brutal Waipouri murder