Queenie Dunn will visit the grave of her murdered teenage daughter in the next few days after her killer was today jailed for a minimum of 17 years.

"I'll go there and have a big cry. She probably already knows what has happened anyway," said Ms Dunn, minutes after gang member Nathan Fenton was jailed for life with a 17-year non-parole period for the savage murder of his 17-year-old girlfriend Mairina Dunn last August.

Fenton admitted the murder at a depositions hearing last month.

Today Ms Dunn wept in the public gallery of the High Court in Whangarei as more details of her daughter's horrific death emerged.

"I am happy with the sentence. He should get a year for every year of her life," she said later outside the court.

The court was told how Ms Dunn warned Fenton not to hurt her daughter when she learnt of their relationship.

"I always knew him as trouble," she said.

The court heard how Fenton took drugs and alcohol at a gang party in Whangarei before returning to the house where Mairina was sleeping.

He accused her of being unfaithful and began beating her with a shotgun.

The beating lasted 90 minutes, Fenton stopping only to abuse her or catch his breath.

During the beating the shotgun butt was splintered and the barrel was deformed. The victim pleaded with Fenton for her life but her pleas were ignored.

After the beating in front of three women and children in the house, Fenton did not get medical aid, leaving her her to die on a bed.

She probably survived another four hours.

Crown prosecutor Mike Smith told the court Mairina was a vulnerable young victim who had been subjected to earlier violence from Fenton.

The murder was a "savage, brutal, merciless beating" which lifted it above what was normally seen, said Mr Smith.

He said Fenton's guilty plea had to be balanced against the strength of the crown case which was overpowering.

Defence lawyer Arthur Fairlie said Fenton had written a letter of apology for his "brutality".

However, he did not accept that during the beating he tortured Mairina.

He did accept there was a high level of depravity, cruelty and brutality.

During the ride back to the police station after he was caught Fenton told the police "I f...ed up".

He told police he was "too pissed" and had seen something he should not have seen and had lost it, Mr Fairlie said.

During the interview he also said he wanted to apologise to Ms Dunn's mother and the rest of her family for what he had done.

However, outside court today Ms Dunn said Fenton's remorse meant nothing.

"His apology isn't good enough for us. We can't heal what has happened to us.

"I hate seeing my family hurt and that is one thing he has done. There is a lot of hurt amongst our family."

She said she put on her bravest face on in public about the death of her daughter.

"Inside I am devastated. I am shattered and it is not until you go home and sit in her room amongst photos of her in the army, certificates and baby photos, that it all comes back to you.

During sentencing Justice Tony Randerson said leaving Mairina on the bed to die was a particularly callous feature of the murder.

Fenton's probation officer said he had a limited insight into the impact of his violence and there was a high risk he would re-offend.

His former girlfriend, Eileen Verna Everitt was jailed for 12 months after she admitted a charge of being an accessory after the fact of murder. Everitt helped Fenton elude police for several days after the murder.

- NZPA

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