By - Hawkes Bay TodayA Flaxmere man jailed in 2012 for the manslaughter of his partner's son, Mikara Reti, has been denied parole. "We see there is little point in him undertaking his reintegration in the Hawke's Bay because it will not lead to anything meaningful in his case." Trent Hapuku was charged after fatally assaulting 5-month-old Mikara in January 2011 in a Flaxmere sleepout. Yesterday's Parole Board statement said it expected he was about 18 months away from being able to make a strong case for parole. It wasn't until a parole hearing in 2014 that Hapuku acknowledged that he had hit Mikara once in the abdomen, leading to his death.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 27, 2016 21:11 UTC