Girls at church before stabbing

A girl who allegedly fatally stabbed a man during a confrontation that followed a car break-in spree had attended church activities earlier in the evening, a jury has been told.

A 16-year-old and 14-year-old are on trial in the High Court in Hamilton, accused of murdering Norman Kingi, 54, who died after the incident in Ra¯nui St, Dinsdale, Hamilton, about 11.30pm on Friday, July 28 last year.

The Crown case against the pair alleges they were the elder two of three girls – at the time aged 15, 13 and 12 – who were caught breaking into a Nissan Primera owned by Kingi and his partner Vicki-Lee Reihana, which was parked outside their house.

The couple apprehended the youngest girl, while two others ran off – only to return soon after armed with a knife and a screwdriver.

There was a confrontation and it is alleged the oldest girl, who had the knife, stabbed Kingi in the heart, fatally injuring him.

On the second day of the trial yesterday, the court heard evidence from a youth pastor at a Hamilton church.

The pastor and church cannot be named without leading to the identification of the defendants.

He confirmed the 15-year-old and 12-year-old had attended group activities at the church that evening, but the last he saw of them was about 8.30pm, about an hour before the activities wound up for the night.

The older girl had been attending the group for about 21⁄2 years, he said.

The day began with the continuing cross-examination of Reihana by Ron Mansfield, the defence counsel for the 16-yearold.

‘‘It was certainly not a hard strike, it was a bit awkward,’’ he ventured.

‘‘It was aiming at his chest . . . it was definitely aiming at the top part,’’ she replied.

Kingi had been yelling at the two girls: ‘‘F...ing little shits. Come on, you can’t steal our car.’’

The two parties had approached each other, yelling and swearing.

‘‘Jesus, I’ll f...ing do youse,’’ he had said.

‘‘I’ll do you,’’ the taller girl had replied.

Reihana said she never saw Kingi raise his hand against the girls.

Mansfield asked: ‘‘It would be fair to describe him as absolutely nutting off?’’

‘‘Yes,’’ Reihana replied. Roger Laybourn, who is acting for the younger girl, also crossedexamined Reihana.

She confirmed that his client had been standing two metres behind the older girl, watching the events unfold.

‘‘You never heard a word out of her mouth. She was just there.’’ ‘‘Yes,’’ Reihana replied. The trial, before Justice Timothy Brewer, is expected to run for two weeks.