If you hurt someone in a way that could have killed them, but they didn’t die, you can get in trouble. The law says you might have to go to jail for up to 3 years. This is because if the person had died from what you did, it would have been called manslaughter. Manslaughter is when you cause someone’s death without meaning to, but you were still doing something wrong or dangerous.
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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM329377.
189A: Strangulation or suffocation, or
“It is against the law to stop someone from breathing or getting blood flow by blocking their nose or mouth, or pressing on their throat or neck.”
191: Aggravated wounding or injury, or
“Hurting someone badly on purpose to help with or hide a crime”
Every one is liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years who injures any other person in such circumstances that if death had been caused he or she would have been guilty of manslaughter.
