Man cleared of injuring charge in Bell case

Press, 31 January 1984, Page 4

Man cleared of injuring charge in Bell case

Because two women, who are serving prison sentences for their part in the manslaughter of Leyland Edward Bell, did not give evidence yesterday implicating George Raharaha in the assaults on Mr Bell, Raharaha was discharged in the District Court yesterday of a charge of injuring Mr Bell with intent.

After a depositions hearing in which evidence or statements of 10 prosecution witnesses were given, Mr N. W. Williamson, who prosecuted for the police, said he conceded that the evidence which had been given was insufficient to commit the defendant for trial.

Defence counsel (Mr S. C. Barker) then asked that the defendant, who is aged 31, a sickness beneficiary, be discharged. He was discharged by Mr R. C. Holland and Mrs C. M. Holmes, Justices of the Peace.

Mr Williamson said, when closing the police case and conceding the evidence as insufficient to commit the defendant for trial, that the evidence available at the time the defendant was charged was that the de-

fendant had punched Mr Bell in the face two or three times, and had also kicked him when he was lying on the floor. “The witnesses today have not given that evidence, and claim that they do not now remember those details,” Mr Williamson said.

He said that the evidence had established, in spite of what the defendant initially told the police, that he was in the house when some assaults were made on Mr Bell. But the police could not take it any further than that.

The case related to the death of Mr Bell at Christchurch Show week-end in November, 1982. His body was unearthed two months later from a shallow grave in a house property in Lincoln Road.

At a trial in the High Court last June two men and two women were found guilty of the manslaughter of Mr Bell and another man was found guilty of assaulting him with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.

During the evidence given by Margaret Ann Genet, who is serving a prison sentence of eight years for Mr Bell’s death, and again during the evidence of Lindey Merina Jackson, who is serving nine years, Mr Williamson asked permission to read portions of statements they made to police last July in regard to the charge against the defendant. This was to refresh their memory, or because their evidence was inconsistent with those statements.

Genet said in evidence yesterday that she could not remember what happened in the house. The events took place over a year ago. Asked if she recalled the defendant doing anything to Mr Bell she said she did not. “It all seems very vague,” she said. She said she could not recall saying in her statement last July that she saw

the defendant kick Mr Bell in the back. She said there were six people in the room and to have seen anybody get kicked in that room "you would have to be a good onlooker."

Questioned about a passage in her statement in which she had said she saw the defendant kick Mr Bell, Genet said it was “very imprecise" of her to say she saw the defendant because there were three other men in the room.

Jackson was questioned about her statement to police last July that she saw the defendant punch Mr Bell two or three times in the face while Mr Bell was standing on a chair and she did not know if this was before Mr Bell had been made to eat dog shit.

She said she could not remember seeing the defendant hit Mr Bell. She said she did not know what happened to Mr Bell while the defendant was at the house.

She said that maybe she had made that statement to police but “you do forget things if you’ve been in there for so long.” Asked if, in her statement to police last year, she had told the truth she said that maybe she was not thinking right.

She said she did not know whether she had seen the

defendant hit Mr Bell in the face two or three times.

Asked whj’ she had changed her mind from July, last year. Jackson said she wanted to forget the whole thing.

Mr Williamson: Did George hit Eddy (Mr Bell)? — Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. Tauria Rewi, who is serving a prison sentence of four years for causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Bell, said he arrived at the Lincoln Road house with the defendant on the Saturday of show week-end.

He saw Bryce King and the women punching Mr Bell.

Rewi said he thought he also hit Mr Bell but he did not see the defendant hit him. He thought he had seen the defendant hit Mr Bell but it was not him. It was somebody else.

Rewi said he left the house and went home and the defendant accompanied him. Before they left Mr Bell had been given a bath and put to bed. He seemed quite all right. Detective S. M. Dunn said he interviewed the defendant on July 9 last year. When told that Genet and Jackson had made statements implicating him in the assaults the defendant said he was not prepared to discuss the matter or answer any questions.