Brother of Irishman killed in New Zealand says family will never get over his death

Anthony 'Tony' Kelly died ten days after he was assaulted in Christchurch on October 18 last year.

The brother of an Irishman who died in New Zealand after he received a “martial arts style kick to the head” said his family will never get over his death.

Anthony 'Tony' Kelly died ten days after he was assaulted in Christchurch on October 18 last year.

The 61-year-old father of two from Monasterevin Co. Kildare had been living in New Zealand for nearly 30 years, and his twin son and daughter were born there.

Last week, teenager Mark Nagel, 19, was jailed for two years for the manslaughter of Mr Kelly at the Christchurch High Court.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Tony’s brother John Kelly said his entire family is “deflated” over the sentence.

They had travelled to court to face their brother’s attacker where they read out powerful impact statements.

“It is still very hard to take it all in and emotions are very high” Mr Kelly said. “We are utterly deflated. The case was more about how many concessions Mark Nagel could be given rather than my brother’s horrific death.

“My brother was lost in it all”.

During the trial, the court heard that a group of youths attacked Mr Kelly at the Bus Exchange after they believed he took photos of them on his phone.

He hit out in self-defence before he was kicked in the shin by one of the teenagers.

Mr Nagel walked through the group and kicked Mr Kelly in the side of face using a “martial arts style kick”. The court heard he had no chance to defend himself and fell on the ground, hitting his head on the footpath.

Mark Nagel, 19, was jailed for two years for the manslaughter of Mr Kelly. Picture: New Zealand  Herald.

“He was given CPR by passersby and rushed to hospital” said Mr Kelly. “He was on life support for the next 10 days when his family had to turn it off.

“We had to say goodbye to Michael through a video call.

“He has two beautiful children Ryan and Laura; they are 22 and twins. Ryan held the phone over to him, he looked good. He looked asleep but he was never going to come out of him. The damage caused was irreversible.

Members of the Irish community turned out for the sentencing to support Mr Kelly's family.

“Nagel was given leave to apply for home detention, which he did straight away” said Mr Kelly.

Mr Kelly grew up in Co. Kildare with his brothers John and Philip, they all went their separate ways when they got older but remained close.

“Tony travelled everywhere” said Mr Kelly. “He met the mother of his twins Janine and they moved to New Zealand where she is from.

“They had gone their separate ways, and he had a new partner Judi, but he loved it in New Zealand, where he was a landscape gardener”.

Tony's ashes are buried in Ireland near where his brother now lives in Derry. 

Mr Nagel apologised to the police and his parents sent their condolences.

“None of us are accepting this,” Mr Kelly continued “We just have hatred. It’s too raw. He kicked my brother in the head.

“But he only got two years. We were so angry, we had to leave”.