Fighting said to have led to stabbings

Press, 25 February 1987, Page 4

Fighting said to have led to stabbings

Fighting which led to two brothers being stabbed, one fatally, outside a fast-food bar in Cathedral Square last November was described in the District Court yesterday during the preliminary hearing of charges of murder, and attempted murder.

The proprietor of a' fish shop in Cathedral Square gave evidence of seeing two Maori men and the defendant, Richie Stuart Clutterbuck, fighting.

One Maori man was then seen lying on the footpath and Clutterbuck looked at a knife in his hand and ran off. He had a blank look and appeared as though his blood would have been pumping. Clutterbuck, aged 24, a sickness beneficiary, faces charges of the murder of Paul Tuia, aged 23, and attempted murder of David Tuia, aged 25, in Cathedral Square in the early morning of November 9. The depositions hearing, before Messrs J. B. Andersen and C. W. Crawford, Justices of the Peace, will continue today. Mr R. E. Neave and Miss B. J. Draper appear for the police, and Messrs A. N. D. Garrett and R. G. Glover for Clutterbuck. Mr Neave, outlining the police case, said Clutterbuck and some companions, including John William Kennard, arrived in Cathedral Square outside the Doghouse hamburger bar and a fish and chip shop in the early morning of Sunday, November 9. Paul Tuia and companions arrived about the same time. Kennard was alleged to have been involved in an incident outside the Doghhouse that left him with a bleeding nose. Words were exchanged between Kennard and one of the Tuias and fighting broke out between Clutterbuck and Paul Tuia inside and outside the hamburger bar and to a car in which Clutterbuck had arrived. Clutterbuck went to the car, but was followed by Paul Tuia, who pulled him out of the vehicle. Further punches were exchanged, and David Tuia joined in. Clutterbuck then allegedly produced a knife, which he stated he had taken from the car’s glove- box. He was alleged to have fatally stabbed Paul Tuia, and stabbed David Tuia in the groin.

He ran from the scene, disposing of the knife in the city, and later made his way to Invercargill where he surrendered .to the police.

In a statement he made to a detective, Clutterbuck allegedly said he took the knife from the car’s glove-box when he was attacked by Paul Tuia.

He said he could not remember much about it other than taking the knife from the glove-box.

Michael McLister, a postman, said he was a passenger in a car and had gone to the Doghouse hamburger bar in the early morning. He saw fighting between two Polynesian men, and two European men.

At first there was a discussion, and then a bit of a ruckus, with punches exchanged. The incident nearly stopped, then more words were exchanged and the fight was all on. A woman dressed in

white tried to break up the fight, but she was stopped from doing so by a woman dressed in a fur coat. Punches and kicks were exchanged. Eventually only three men were involved, the two Polynesians and one European. The. bigger Polynesian stepped back and his shorter companion and the European grappled with each other. The bigger Polynesian, who had stepped back from the fight “rather abruptly," fell to the pavement.

The other two fought on, slowly moving towards the' Doghouse doorway. Both fell in the doorway and then got back up to their feet and continued fighting. The Polynesian man “flipped” the European man on to the ground. At this stage the witness saw what appeared to be

a knife in the European's hand. The European man managed to get up from the ground after being pinned there, and tried to get away. The woman with the fur coat tried to stop him, but he ran off along Worcester Street The smaller Polynesian, who had just finished fighting, then went to his companion and' tried to pick him up, but could not do so. He then rolled him over. The man then collapsed in the doorway of the Doghouse. The witness said he could not see tile European man in the court. Cross-examined!, Mr McLister said the blows were at times t nothing more than "average” punches, but at other times they were quite brutal.

Both Polynesian men were involved. The severity of blows

being exchanged applied to all three persons involved. He saw the smaller Polynesian aim a dropkick at the European. The European man was on the ground when seen with a metallic object Bruce Douglas Verey, a shop assistant, said he was working at the Doghouse restaurant on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift on November 9. He saw a disturbance outside about 4 a.m. involving a Maori and a fairer person. Earlier, he had seen an incident in which a man suffered a bleeding nose. This man entered the Doghouse and conversed with somebody, and there was a disagreement They went outside and the witness could not see all that happened next, but saw the shorter Polynesian fighting with the European, whom the witness identified in court as the defendant, Clutterbuck. Clutterbuck had not been the European who suffered the bleeding nose earlier. .

Mr Verey said he saw the two Polynesians fighting with Clutterbuck. They were “surrounding” a car at one stage. The witness telephoned the police and then looked back to see the two Polynesians on the ground. He called an ambulance and went outside to see the condition of the two Polynesian men. He saw they had been stabbed. There was no sign of Clutterbuck or the other European man who had the bleeding nose.

He had not seen the man with the bleeding nose involved at any stage in the fighting. He did not see a weapon produced.

Cross-examined, he said he recalled a European girl being dragged away by a Maori woman in a fur coat at the beginning of the fighting. He could not say whether the European girl was trying to stop the fight Murray lan Tait a university student said he was working part-time as a cook at the Doghouse that morning and saw a Polynesian man, and a European whom he would not recognise again, fighting in the shop. They were told to go outside. Later, he saw the Polynesian go to a car and kick a man who was sitting in the passenger’s seat with the door open. The kick “did not work” and the Polynesian man fell on his back, but got up immediately, and animated conversation took place. The European man moved back into the car. The Polynesian man might have reached into the car. The man in the car got out and his assailant backed off. The witness said his attention was diverted. When he looked back he saw probably the same two men in a tussle, wrestling. He believed one of the men backed off at one stage. He heard somebody call out and an ambulance was called. Another witness gave evidence of seeing the fighting, and seeing a man slump over and fall in the doorway of the Doghouse. Another man lay on the ground holding a knife about 22cm long. The man with the knife got up and ran off into Worcester Street, towards Manchester Street.

Andrew Kyriakos Papa-

george, proprietor of Warners Fish Supply in Cathedral Square, gave evidence of seeing a Maori man chase after a European man (not the defendant). Another Maori was speaking to Clutterbuck, who was inside a car. The first Maori then came running back. The witness said he did not know whether the European man then got out, or was pulled out of the car. A fight then ensued between the three, and continued into the Doghouse. They went outside and the Maori (who later died) lay on the footpath. The witness then saw Ciutterbuck with a knife, about 20cm long. He did not know whether it was at that stage that the other Maori also was stabbed. Mr Papageorge said he saw Clutterbuck look at the knife and then take off, in the same direction as the other European had run.

Cross-examined, the witness said that after seeing the Maori on the ground he saw Clutterbuck make a quick waving motion. He then looked at the knife and ran off. He had a very blank look. “At a guess I would say his blood would have been pumping,” Mr Papageorge said. Two witnesses, who are listed as prosecution witnesses in the case, failed to appear when their names were called for them to give evidence yesterday afternoon. They were Gavin Tony Hardaker, a labourer, and Colleen Alwyn Hardaker, a housewife. Warrants were issued for their arrest