Winders ‘scared off hunters’

A witness at the stop-go murder trial of Quinton Winders has described ‘‘running for his life’’ after being shot at while on a property that bordered the accused’s.

Nigel Ford told the High Court in Rotorua he was with his son, nephew and a friend of the boys, hunting on land neighbouring Winders’ Stratford property when they were shot at three times in 2009.

‘‘I physically felt the bullet go past me, I was in a state of shock, turned around to my son and said: some ****’s shooting at us.

‘‘By the time I said this another shot came past my head. I turned to the boys and said: run,’’ Ford said.

‘‘You could see them [bullets] hitting the ground close to me. I spun around and looked to see who was shooting and where it was coming from, but that second shot told me where it was coming from [Winders property].

‘‘We were running for our lives basically.’’

Winders is on trial accused of the 2013 killing of road worker George Taiaroa, who was shot dead on a South Waikato roadside while manning a stop-go sign.

The Crown contends Winders shot him after a minor traffic accident.

The defence contends Winders did not shoot Taiaroa and whoever did may have done so due to mistaken identity.

During yesterday’s evidence, Ford also told the court the owner of the land, Ken Lobb, told him Winders had mentioned scaring off some hunters.

‘‘They won’t be back,’’ Ford said Lobb told him.

Earlier, the jury also heard evidence from another neighbour of Winders, Bryan Kuriger, who also claimed to have been shot at.

Both men, however, conceded they never saw the gunman. Justice Toogood also gave the jury a warning ahead of the evidence.

‘‘The Crown’s submission to you is Mr Winders’ fired the shot and he will be shown to have a tendency to overreact to the behaviour of others,’’ he said.

‘‘You must not jump to the conclusion that Mr Winders must be guilty of Mr Taiaroa’s murder because you have decided he has fired shots at people in the vicinity of his farm. This evidence [is] disputed by the defence.

‘‘It’s most important you keep an open mind about this evidence until the end of the trial,’’ the judge said.

‘‘You mustn’t jump straight to the conclusion he was guilty of Mr Taiaroa’s murder,’’ the judge said.

The trial has now finished its third week.