Machete attack alleged

Press, 16 August 1988, Page 31

Machete attack alleged

Three men and a woman sustained varying degrees of injury from a machete wielded by Johnny Tewhaiti Cooper after he and three others gatecrashed a party and a woman in his group was accused of stealing a handbag from the flat.

Evidence of this was given at a preliminary hearing in the District Court yesterday when Cooper, aged 36, a wood merchant, faced wounding and assault charges. He was committed for trial in the High Court by Messrs J. H. Christensen and C. W. Crawford, and remanded on bail pending a trial date.

The charges were of wounding Nicholas Hugh Maginness, and Vance Russell Boynton, with intent to cause them grievous bodily harm, assaulting Joanna Dorrans with intent to injure her, and assaulting Shayne David Errol Taylor. The charges relate to events early in the morning of July 24. Mr C. D. Eason, for Cooper, reserved his defence.

Sergeant K. J. Morrison prosecuted. Mr Maginness said that

while he was at the party two men and a woman, who had not been invited, arrived after midnight. One of the men was the defendant. Later he noticed that his girl friend’s handbag was missing from near where Cooper and the woman with him had been sitting.

These two were not in the room at the time, but then returned.

He asked if they had seen the handbag. Cooper said he had not taken it. The woman did not answer.

He continued asking about the handbag, and then spoke to Shayne Taylor.

They went outside to Cooper’s van. Cooper was in the van, moving round, and when the witness asked for the handbag Cooper got out and asked whether they were accusing him of stealing it. Mr Maginness said he was not accusing Cooper, but the woman with him.

Cooper said three persons who left the party earlier had stolen the handbag. Mr Maginness said he (witness) was getting quite agitated. They

crowded Cooper.

He went to his van, opened the driver’s door and took out a machete from above the sun visor. He then told the two to have a go. The witness said he was really wild, and ran at Cooper to grab his wrist as he held the machete above his head.

In the struggle that followed, Mr Maginness said, he was hit on his shoulder by what he believed was the handle of the machete.

He pushed Cooper backwards, intending to push him over a fence. Cooper then "got another decent hit in,” and the witness dropped to his knees.

Cooper then chased him, and Mr Taylor, round a car.

They yelled for the police to be called. Mr Maginness said his shoulder was really hurting. He later received medical treatment for three lacerations, on his shoulder and back.

Shayne Taylor said the party was for his twentieth birthday, and engagement.

He told Cooper and his group to leave as the

party was for guests by invitation only.

Cooper said they would be there only five minutes.

Later, he saw one of the two women in the group steal a handbag. He and Mr Maginness then went out to the street and saw Cooper in his van. They did not see the woman.

After the incident with the machete and Cooper’s chasing them round the car, Mr Maginness grabbed Cooper the witness went behind Cooper to try to make him lose his balance. The machete hit him on the back of his shoulder. It was not intended to hit him, Mr Taylor said. Another party-goer, Mr Boynton, then arrived. Mr Boynton’s evidence was of running to the scene after seeing Cooper chasing the two round a car.

He jumped on Cooper, who was standing over Mr Taylor swinging the machete over his head.

As he jumped at Cooper, he was struck on the thumb with the machete.

He then ran after another man who was chas-

ing Mr Maginness along the road. Joanna Dorrans, a laundry worker, said she ran outside after three men had run from the house.

She accidentally ran straight into Cooper, who swore at her, raised the machete, and hit her on a collarbone. The weapon hit her hand also, but caused no injury.

In cross-examination, both Mr Taylor and Mr Maginness agreed their intention was to put pressure on Cooper.

Mr Taylor said this was only to get the handbag back.

In a written statement to the police, Cooper allegedly said he had been invited to the party.

While there he had been accused of stealing a handbag, which he denied.

He swung the machete round as seven partygoers came running at him.

He swung the machete to keep them away.

He did not mean to hit anybody, and did not know if he hit anybody with it.