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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Tess McClure in Auckland

New Zealand: 15-year-old boy receives life sentence for murder

A metal statue of the Greek goddess of justice
A 15-year-old New Zealand boy has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 murder of Bram Willems. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

A New Zealand court has sentenced a 15-year-old boy to life in prison for a murder committed when he was 14.

The sentencing coincides with a separate legal challenge to the country’s practice of giving children life sentences, which advocates argue is “harmful and ineffective”. New Zealand’s sentencing laws currently presume a life sentence for those found guilty of murder, unless it is “manifestly unjust” to do so.

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