In a historic first for New Zealand’s justice system, a man has been jailed for manslaughter after his aggressive dogs fatally attacked Neville Thomson.

The sentence marks a turning point in how the law can hold dog owners accountable - and comes with a plea from the man’s grieving children for dog owners to do better.

“Every dog owner should prioritise the safety of their pets and the community. By doing so we can prevent tragedies and protect lives,” Thomson’s daughter Nataria Moore said.

Moore was speaking at Abel Jaye Wira’s sentencing in the High Court at Whangārei on Friday.

The 60-year-old was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury after his dogs mauled Thomson to death.

Thomson’s three children clutched each other in court as their victim impact statements were read, detailing the trauma they had experienced as a result of Wira and his dogs.

Their father was a beloved member of the Panguru community who helped out the local marae, neighbours and loved his whenua.

Moore said she thought it was a joke when her brother called her to say their father was dead, killed by a pack of dogs.

“The world around me paused and I felt like the oxygen had been sucked out of the world,” she said.

Moore recalled the regular late-night text chats she would have with her father, while his son Tama said his father would give you the shirt off his back “just because you liked it”.

“I hate the way in which he was taken, it’s left so many unanswered questions,” Tama said.

“I miss my dad so much but I’ve got to keep on keeping on. As my dad used to say, ‘there’s no rest for the wicked’.”

Dog owners must do better

In reading their victim impact statements, the family took the opportunity to send a message to dog owners in New Zealand to do better.

“I’m deeply concerned since his passing there have been other tragic incidents, including Elizabeth Whittaker in the Far North and Timothy Tu’uaki Rolleston-Bryan. Others have lost their lives in similar circumstances and I take this moment to acknowledge their lives,” Moore said.

Moore said she wanted to honour her dad’s life by pushing for meaningful change.

“I urge the authorities to take this opportunity to strengthen regulations and ensure that dog owners are held accountable for the care and control of their animals.”

Abel Wira in the High Court at Whangārei during his trial following the death of Neville Thomson (inset) in August 2022.

Aggressive, uncontrollable, dangerous

In 2022, Wira came to house sit Thomson’s home in Panguru while the latter was in the South Island and brought with him 23 dogs: six adults and 17 puppies.

When Thomson returned, Wira stayed on with his pets, which he kept confined in a caravan, sometimes unfed for days.

During a week-long trial in August, witnesses described the dogs as aggressive, uncontrollable and dangerous.

They had lunged at visitors, mauled the ears off a neighbour’s pig and attacked Wira, resulting in him needing hospital treatment for bite wounds so severe they nearly struck major arteries.

Wira regularly locked the dogs in a caravan, which had no door handle and was propped closed by a block of wood, at Thomson’s property.

On the morning of August 4, 2022, Wira was out running errands while Thomson was home on the phone to his partner.

The dogs, who had not been fed in two days, escaped out of the caravan and mauled Thomson to death.

Neville Thomson was known as an animal lover and had two dogs of his own. Photo / Supplied

When Wira returned to the property and found his friend dead, he had to beat the dogs off with a spade.

When authorities arrived, two of the dogs were shot on sight, one escaped into the bush and the rest were taken to a local pound and had to be euthanised as they were too aggressive to be rehomed.

‘It was only a matter of time’

Thomson’s death triggered a lengthy police investigation, and it was not until December 2023, more than a year later, that Wira was charged with being a dog owner of a dog that caused injury or death.

The charge was upgraded months later to manslaughter, the first such case in New Zealand’s history.

Crown lawyer Richard Annandale said Wira was aware of the dogs’ history of aggression and he failed in his responsibilities as a dog owner.

“In short, it was only a matter of time before the dogs caused serious injury to another human,” Annandale said.

A grand-daughter of Neville Thomson said in a victim impact statement she missed her grandad's tickly beard. Photo / Supplied

Annandale also pointed out that Wira had admitted early on in a statement to police he did not trust his male dogs and would keep them in a truck.

Wira’s lawyer Arthur Fairley said the comments in his statement referred to incidents involving cattle.

“I hear what you’re saying, but it’s more than that,” Justice Andrew Becroft said, disagreeing.

At trial, Fairley attempted to submit a possibility that Thomson had let the dogs out, but Judge Becroft said he found this theory “highly fanciful”.

“Nobody in their right mind would release them,” the judge said.

‘Your behaviour must be denounced’

Judge Becroft acknowledged Moore’s stance on dog control and said Thomson’s death would have been terrifying and a “dogs will be dogs attitude just will not do”.

“The community cannot underestimate what can arise when dog owners majorly depart from their responsibilities,” Judge Becroft said.

“Mr Wira you fell grossly short of what reasonable New Zealanders would expect.

“Your behaviour must be denounced. Your failure was the cause of Mr Thomson’s death.”

Judge Becroft noted there were several aggravating features, including the number of dogs and the fact they had not been fed in two days.

“This incident with Mr Thomson was not a one-off. The efforts you took to secure them were wholly inadequate. Imagine if there were children at the property?

“Dogs to this degree of dangerousness should have been tethered.”

It was also noted Wira had a 10-page criminal record, including a sentence of 12 years for the rape of a teenage hitch-hiker in 2003.

“The relevance of all of that is you have apparently lived outside the normal expectations of the law. Your treatment of dogs is one such example of your deliberately adopted lifestyle.”

Wira was sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.