Accused was manipulated says defence

It was a manipulative woman who was responsible for causing the death of Ashburton man Arran Gairns, the jury in the manslaughter trial of Kooly Managki Te Tomo has been told.

Te Tomo, 28, of Ashburton, is on trial for the manslaughter and intent to rob Gairns at the High Court in Timaru.

Gairns’ body was found in an Ashburton ditch on June 1, 2014.

Earlier in the trial, Crown Prosecutor Andrew McRae told the jury Gairns had met a female associate of Te Tomo at Pierson’s Bus Depot, Ashburton, on May 31.

During the meeting, the associate agreed to help Gairns sell methamphetamine, McRae said.

Instead, the woman hatched a plan to steal the drugs, he said.

The woman went to the house of Stacey Leigh Curtis to collect some bags to split the drugs and prepare them for sale. While at the house she told Te Tomo of her plan to rob Gairns and convinced him to carry it out, McRae said.

The woman told Te Tomo she would be driving Gairns back to the depot and that he should meet her there and carry out their plan, he said.

A male associate then drove Te Tomo and Desmond Kapi Marshall to the depot where they threatened and tried to rob Gairns, before chasing him to the ditch where he drowned, he said.

McRae said Te Tomo should have known his threats would scare Gairns into doing something that ultimately cost him his life, and was therefore guilty of manslaughter.

In his closing address, Defence Counsel James Rapley told the jury they would ‘‘have doubts’’ about the conversation Te Tomo had with the female associate, and would be unsure about whether he really knew what was happening.

The female associate had told Te Tomo that Gairns had been talking to her like she was a ‘‘crack whore’’ and ‘‘in a way that upset her’’, he said.

Rapley said when he put it to her that Te Tomo had not robbed Gairns, but instead addressed him about what he had allegedly said to her, the woman replied that ‘‘he (Te Tomo) had probably said that’’.

Rapley suggested the plan to steal the drugs had been hatched solely by the female. He said she was the mastermind, the manipulator and had played the boys along.

‘‘It’s not clear what [she] told Te Tomo when they were outside Curtis’ house. [She] asked Curtis whether she should rob Gairns, but there is no proof Te Tomo was privy to that extent.

‘‘She was a prime mover ... she is manipulative and can manipulate others and she manipulated Te Tomo.’’

Rapley said evidence from 2degrees mobile showed Gairns’ phone was still working at 3.52am on May 31.

He said a phone call between the male associate and Curtis at 3.30am showed he, Te Tomo and Marshall were on their way back to Curtis’ house.

For Te Tomo to be guilty of the manslaughter of Gairns ‘‘we have to be sure he died very soon after’’, he said.

‘‘The Crown is asking you to guess the time of death, but you can’t,’’ Rapley said.

McRae said Gairns’ choice to run and hide was ‘‘reasonable’’.

‘‘Was fighting an option? He was grossly outnumbered ... he had been taken by surprise.

‘‘The flight was a very likely response, particularly given the value of what he had on him,’’ McRae said.

The jury is expected to deliver its verdict on Friday.