Coroner hears of fatal car fall
A person inside the car when Jardin Whanga-Elliott fell from the backseat and on to a Lower Hutt road sustaining unsurvivable head injuries believed the 21-year-old chose to get out of the moving vehicle.
Whanga-Elliott’s uncle and driver of the vehicle, Quentin Herewini, insisted he had no idea his nephew had fallen from his moving Mazda Familia on July 3, 2016, until some time later – a claim denied by the other witness. Whanga-Elliott’s death at Wellington Regional Hospital two days later was the subject of a coronial inquest at the Wellington District Court this week.
His body was found by two female passersby in the gutter of a Naenae street, just metres from where he and Herewini had been assaulted outside a boozy 21st birthday ‘‘after party’’ shortly before.
Partygoer Owen Flanagan mistakenly believed the women who were first to come to Whanga-Elliott’s aid after his fall were responsible for his injuries and hit one of them with a piece of fence paling.
Earlier that night, a drunk WhangaElliott had been trying to steal cigarettes and alcohol from fellow partygoers and was repeatedly asked to leave the party by bouncer Talosago Moreli. After being escorted from the house, Whanga-Elliott walked to Herewini’s house before the pair drove back to the party with others.
Whanga-Elliott’s return angered Moreli, who punched Herewini before attacking Whanga-Elliott – the fracas attracted about 40 partygoers who began kicking the car.
Herewini said he did not know Whanga-Elliott had been asked to leave earlier, otherwise he would have told him to sleep off his intoxication. After driving away with Whanga-Elliott and three others, Herewini described those inside the car as ‘‘hysterical’’ and ‘‘in shock’’.
Passenger Ashley Amohau, Herewini’s niece, told the inquest: ‘‘We were all angry. We were yelling, screaming.’’
As the car rounded a bend, a witness – who cannot be named – said they believed Whanga-Elliott had opened the door while the car was still moving. ‘‘I grabbed [for Whanga-Elliott] and I knew he was gone . . . [Herewini and Whanga-Elliott] were arguing. He turned to Jardin and was like, ‘What did you do? What did you do? And Jardin was like, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’
‘‘And then all I heard [Jardin] say f... this and then open up the door and that’s when I grabbed him and then I fell forward with him pushing me back and then he was gone, but I didn’t turn around right away. I put my head down and then I think I just realised what had just happened.’’
Herewini said he didn’t realise Whanga-Elliott had fallen out of the vehicle on Seddon St, but the other witness said they told Herewini to ‘‘turn around, turn around’’. Herewini’s response was to tell them to ‘‘shut up’’ and to continue driving, but Herewini told the inquest he did not know his nephew had fallen out. ‘‘We actually didn’t know initially what happened until me and my mum and that came back in the van . . . we just [saw] him lying there with the paramedics.’’
Pathologist Dr Amy Spark said Whanga-Elliott suffered about 35 injuries, including multiple skull fractures. A blood sample taken at hospital showed the alcohol in his system was around four times the legal limit for driving.
The coroner has reserved his findings.