Stop-go accident ‘no big deal’ says murder accused

‘‘The traffic incident was a charade, strategically organised by the police.’’ Defence lawyer Jonathan Temm

Police fabricated a reckless driving charge to allow them to arrest and question stop-go murder suspect Quinton Winders, his defence claims.

The claim was made by Winders’ lawyer, Jonathan Temm, while he was cross-examining Detective Steven Dunn yesterday.

Winders is on trial at the High Court in Rotorua for the murder of stop-go worker George Taiaroa in 2013 – a killing that baffled the nation.

The trial has entered its third week with the prosecution contending Winders shot Taiaroa after a minor traffic incident, while Winders’ defence is that it was a case of mistaken identity.

The jury was shown a video of Winders being interviewed by Dunn before Temm questioned him on Winders’ arrest and interview. ‘‘The traffic incident was a charade, strategically organised by the police,’’ Temm said.

‘‘You know that the arrest of Mr Winders was simply a ruse, a facade.

‘‘The strategic decision was to arrest him, to fabricate a reckless driving charge and say arrest him on that.’’

Dunn denied that claim but Temm pressed on.

‘‘The whole purpose of the arrest was to confine Mr Winders to question him on the murder charge.

‘‘He was never, never arrested or charged for that reckless driving. ‘‘It’s vapourised, gone.’’ Temm also revealed that during that interview Dunn raised the topic of Taiaroa and claimed he was ‘‘sloppy’’ at the job.

‘‘Mr Winders is giving back to you language you introduced to the conversation,’’ Temm said.

The questioning followed a similar theme from Friday’s proceedings when the jury was shown the interview.

In the video, Dunn asked Winders how he felt about Taiaroa’s role in the minor fender bender on March 12, 2013.

Prosecutors have claimed this is the incident that led Winders to shoot Taiaroa.

‘‘How did you feel about that whole incident?’’ Dunn said.

‘‘It was no big deal,’’ Winders replied.

‘‘There was no damage to the trailer and the door would still open.

‘‘It was just an odd thing and that’s why I remember it.’’

Dunn then said: ‘‘Did you feel, at the time, the accident was caused because of the stop-go man?

‘‘In terms of him being a bit sort of lazy at the time?’’

Winders replied that it was ‘‘no big deal, really’’.

‘‘That’s all I can say,’’ Winders continued.

‘‘He flipped it on to stop at the last sorta second and we had to stop and we had the trailer on. ‘‘Jam the brakes on. ‘‘The guy in the blue car went and talked to him.

‘‘He was sloppy, I’ll say that,’’ Winders said.

‘‘How did that make you feel?’’ Dunn asked.

‘‘It just seemed odd,’’ Winders replied. ‘‘There was an oddness about it.

‘‘I don’t know whether he [Taiaroa] knew the guy in the blue car? There definitely is an oddness about it.’’

Dunn asked Winders about his association with a safari club and the number of weapons he owned.

Winders told Dunn that two of his rifles had gone missing and he did not know whether he had left them out on a hill while out hunting, or whether he was a victim of theft – which he claimed was happening in the area at the time.

Earlier in the day, Rotorua officer Martyn Roe, who is also part of the armed offenders squad, gave evidence regarding his involvement in Winders’ arrest on April 4, 2013.

Roe arrested Winders for reckless driving by tackling him to the ground in a Rotorua store while Winders was talking to a store employee.

Roe explained that as part of AOS, which is the role he was in when he made the arrest, he was briefed that Winders could be dangerous, which was why he surprised Winders by tackling him.

Winders and his mother were then escorted to the police station without trouble.

When asked by Temm whether he arrested others who were accused of reckless driving by tackling them to the ground, Roe said no.

The trial is set to continue for a further two weeks. A community project two years in the making bloomed into colour on the banks of a Blenheim river on Sunday.

The temporary art installation at the Taylor River Reserve features 3500 clay daffodils, handmade by children from primary schools in Marlborough.

The clay daffodils were planted by volunteers, including many of the children who made the flowers and members of the groups involved in the Marlborough Community Daffodil Project.

The project, a joint fundraiser for the Marlborough Cancer Society and Marlborough Community Potters, was started nearly two years ago and grew into a community effort with help from numerous groups.

Marlborough Cancer Society fundraiser Zoe Gray, one of the original organisers of the project along with potter Fran Maguire, said she was thrilled to see it come to fruition.

‘‘I’m so proud of what the kids have done, seeing the whole spirit of this community project come together is amazing,’’ she said.

Fairhall School pupils Samantha Williams, 7, Jessica Williams, 11, Chloe Williams, 9, and Zoe Materman, 5, were on hand to help with the planting on Sunday.

The school was the first to create the daffodils, with Jessica saying she liked being involved with the project because it supported the Cancer Society and raised awareness of what they did.

‘‘They’ll last forever, and they look really pretty,’’ said her sister, Samantha.

Marlborough Cancer Society manager Margot Wilson said the number of volunteers and businesses that had contributed to the project showed what an amazing community Marlborough had.

Funds raised by the project would stay in the region to help those diagnosed with cancer, by providing assistance with services such as travel, financial planning and support, Wilson said.

Members of the public could take home one of the daffodils for a donation of $20 when the art installation officially opened yesterday.

Volunteers from the Blenheim Rotary Club, Safe Air and Blenheim businesses Cuddon and Norski Fibreglass had donated their time and products to the project.

Rugby players from the Tasman Makos team also lent a hand on Sunday, stopping by to plant some of the flowers.

Daffodils painted by Kiwi celebrities Sir Peter Jackson, John Key and the crew from television show Seven Days were put up for auction on Trade Me.