The man who raped and murdered North Shore mother Blessie Gotingco faces sentencing today.
The Crown is expected to ask the High Court in Auckland to sentence Tony Douglas Robertson to preventive detention.
Tony Douglas Robertson Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
That would mean Robertson would only be released when he was considered no longer a risk to the community.
Robertson was found guilty of running Mrs Gotingco down just metres from her home, bundling her into his car and taking her to his home where he raped and murdered her.
He carried out the attack despite being on a curfew and wearing a GPS monitored bracelet.
A review is currently underway into how Corrections managed his release from prison.
When he murdered Mrs Gotingco, Robertson had been out of prison for just six months after serving a prison sentence for sexual offending against children.
Family hold a picture of Blessie Gotingco outside court after the guilty verdicts. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
His criminal history, from the age of 16, includes assault, aggravated robbery, possessing an offensive weapon and threatening to kill.
But it was the offending in Tauranga in 2005 that put him inside for eight years.
Robertson enticed a five-year-old girl to get into his car by saying her mother had a present for her and was at a nearby beach.
Instead he drove her out of town where she was found upset and crying.
Robertson was convicted of abduction with intent to have sexual connection, robbery, attempted kidnapping, and doing an indecent act.
Today is not the first time the Crown has sought a preventive detention sentence for Robertson.
In 2006, the Crown sought to have him locked up for an indefinite period for his sexual offending against children.
One of the major factors in the judge declining the request at the time was Robertson's age; he was just 19 when Justice Keane sentenced him to eight years in prison.
The judge noted Robertson was still in denial about his offending, but said with a lengthy prison sentence that could change and Robertson could get help while in prison.
Instead, Robertson continued to deny his sexual offending against children and sought no help during his eight year sentence.
In his 2006 sentencing, Justice Keane told Robertson that he could not be assumed to be a lost cause at 19. That situation may have changed now Robertson is 28 years old.
