A man serving a life sentence for the homophobic murder of Wellington schoolboy Jeff Whittington has admitted committing fraud while in Rimutaka Prison. Jason Morris Meads, 33, appeared in Wellington District Court yesterday charged with defrauding the Inland Revenue Department of $17,000. Meads was 25 when he and Stephen James Smith, 27, stopped and offered Whittington, 14, a ride home on the corner of Cuba and Guznee streets. They drove him about five blocks away to Inverlochy Place, dragged him out of the car and assaulted him with blows to the head and body. He died the next day in hospital. A witness at their trial said the two had boasted that they had beaten up "a faggot". The boy had dyed his hair purple and had painted his fingernails green. In the dock yesterday, Meads entered a guilty plea on the day his week-long jury trial was due to start and was sentenced to two years and two months' imprisonment, to be served concurrently with his life term. His earliest parole date is December 2009. The full story of Meads' tax scam is reported in the Dominion Post - linked below. Ref: Dominion Post (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 5th September 2007 - 2:00pm