NZ-born teen jailed for sister's murder in UK

A NZ-born teenager has been jailed for the fatal stabbing of his older sister in the UK.

Mali Bennett-Smith, 17, said his 19-year-old sister Luka had been "annoying" and that he wanted to kill her.

Bennett-Smith was jailed for a minimum term of 10 years and five months after pleading guilty to the murder.

The Bristol Crown Court heard on Monday (local time) that Luka had agreed to let Mali practice a headlock on her at their home on October 20, 2024.

However, instead of letting go when she tapped him as had been previously agreed, he continued to hold her and stabbed her repeatedly, the Telegraph reported.

The siblings were alone at their Bristol home when the incident happened.

Bennett-Smith rang emergency services 20 minutes later and told them: "I stabbed my sister to death."

He told them "I hated her my whole life and I don’t know, I just didn’t want to ever see her again," the court heard.

He was arrested at the scene and charged with his sister's murder two days later.

Bennett-Smith had moved to the UK from New Zealand with his sister and mother after his parents had divorced, British media reported.

Bennett-Smith later told police that his sister - who lived with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - was “annoying” and he felt she bullied him.

He said he went downstairs to the lounge and asked Luka if he could practice a headlock on her.

"She agreed, we have done this before and when she needed me to stop we had an agreement where she would tap me on the arm.

"On this occasion I had decided I was not going to stop, I wanted to kill her, I had enough with regards [to how] she had been treating me over the years and recently."

The BBC reported that defence lawyer Ray Tully KC said Bennett-Smith spent a lot of time gaming and had become dissociated from the real world.

"Mali did not know how to manage his increasing feelings of frustration and resentment towards Luka."

Judge William Hart said it was often said in courtrooms that when a child had died "it must be every parent's worst nightmare".

"The horror of the loss of their daughter at the hands of the son they still love is beyond even the worst nightmares.

"The killing was shocking and brutal. It has deprived Luka of her life, your parents in effect of two of their children, and will deprive you of your liberty."