Paramedics unable to save stab victim after skirmish with teen
Paramedics worked for 20 minutes trying to save a man found bleeding from stab wounds in a Hastings carpark, a High Court jury in Hawke’s Bay has been told.
Kelly Donner, 40, was found with four stab wounds in the Flaxmere Tavern carpark on March 4.
Fourteen-year-old Haami Hanara has pleaded not guilty to Donner’s murder and is on trial in the High Court at Napier before Justice Peter Churchman.
Donner was found with two stab wounds in his neck, one in his shoulder and another in his chest.
Known to some Flaxmere locals as a homeless person, Donner was described as well presented and friendly by witnesses in court on the opening day of the trial.
St John Ambulance intensive care paramedic Grant Grey gave evidence that CPR was performed on Donner for 20 minutes.
Donner had cuts to the jaw and neck, he said.
He described Donner lying in a pool of blood, spreading at least a metre from his body.
“There was nothing showing on the monitor. Given the amount of blood he had lost, we pronounced him dead at the scene,” Grey said.
Earlier, Crown prosecutor Steve Manning said Hanara and four other teenagers entered the tavern carpark in the Hastings suburb of Flaxmere in a bid to steal alcohol on March 4.
Donner was in the carpark looking for cigarette butts and lent Hanara his torch.
When the teenager refused to return it, Donner became angry.
An attack escalated, and a beer bottle was smashed over Donner’s face.
He escaped the yard and ran out behind the tavern where the attack continued.
The Crown alleges that Hanara disappeared behind a block wall, then reappeared with a knife in his hand.
Donner retreated and Hanara followed him, then stabbed him four times, the Crown says.
Police found Donner lying face down when they arrived on the scene.
Sergeant Timothy Haakma said police received a call about 10.45pm.
He said he approached Donner using basic first aid, calling out to see if he would get a reply.
He didn’t and tapped Donner’s head, shoulder and back to see if there were any signs of a response.
“Police started doing mobile patrols, circling the area, stopping and talking to anyone who might have seen anything,” he said.
Detective Sergeant Heath Jones was also called on March 4 and told the Crown prosecutor yesterday that it was his job to secure the scene on arrival.
“We were trying to secure and maintain the scene, to make sure there’s no evidence to be tampered with,” he said.
Jones said he approached Donner’s body and noticed a “prominent amount of blood”.
“I observed two wounds to the front of his body, one on his chest, [a] wound or cut to the left side of his neck, then another to the back of his neck.”
Jones said he “cautiously” approached the yard where the alleged attack started.
He checked a vehicle parked in the yard “metres from the deceased” and noticed that the ignition barrel had been “ripped off”.