Girl didn’t target heart, court told

One of pair accused of murder admits she thrust knife

One of two teen girls charged with the murder of a Hamilton man admits she was aiming for his chest when she plunged the knife, but did not intend to hit his heart, her defence counsel says.

The two girls were aged 13 and 15 when Norman Kingi was fatally stabbed in Ranui St, Hamilton, after he and his partner busted them, and a 12-year-old, breaking into his car.

The pair, now aged 14 and 16, have been on trial in the High Court at Hamilton since Monday last week, each defending a charge of murdering Kingi, 54, on July 28 last year. The 12-year-old was not charged.

The two accused, and the 12-yearold, were out breaking into cars in Nawton and Dinsdale that night.

Kingi and his partner, Vicki Lee Reihana, were walking home when they saw the trio sitting in their Nissan Primera. They gave chase.

The older two fled while the youngest remained was eventually pinned to the car by Reihana.

The older accused has admitted stabbing Kingi but told a jury that she did it in self defence against an advancing, angry and intoxicated man confronting them about the car. But Crown prosecutors say that whether the intent was to kill or cause grievous injury, it was still murder.

Closing, the lawyer for the older accused, Ron Mansfield, said the knife was not taken with them to be used as a weapon. It had been stolen from a vehicle by the 12-year-old.

He submitted that his client was moving forward as Kingi was advancing and she pushed the knife out in the direction of his chest and it happened to land in his heart.

“The sharpness of the knife pierced his chest and fatally hit his heart. There’s no evidence that she was aiming for his heart. She accepts she was aiming for the chest.”

He submitted she should be found guilty of manslaughter, not murder.

In his closing statement, Crown prosecutor Philip Morgan QC said most of the facts in the case were uncontested and it all came down to the intent of the accused.

He said the pair walked back to rescue their friend from Reihana, with the younger accused first attacking Kingi with a screwdriver to the head, before the fatal blow was delivered into Kingi’s heart by the 15-year-old.

Justice Timothy Brewer will deliver his summing up this morning before sending the jury out for their deliberations.