Witness tells of body blows

Press, 7 October 1988, Page 4

Witness tells of body blows

PA Auckland After killing a Tongan man with a machete the attacker returned soon afterwards to hack at the body, the High Court at Auckland was told yesterday. Miss Lola Shepherd, aged 16, told the court she was sitting on a bench in the Otara shopping mall when a group of Tongan men nearby was set upon by a number of armed Samoans. “I heard a scream,” Miss Shepherd said. “I looked over and saw a

machete come slicing down on another Islander. “The Islanders who were standing around ran. The guy with the machete chased one of them and cut his right arm.

“Blood came over his shirt. I stood up and started to run.

“The guy with the machete came back and started chopping the guy on the ground.” Miss Shepherd said she saw a man throw a pipe at another Islander.

She did not know which men were Samoans and which Tongaps.

Later, shown photographs by police, Miss Shepherd identified the man with the machete as lupeli losefa Pauga and the man with the pipe as Tuputala Nensen. As a result of the incident on April 30, 11 men have been charged with the murder of David Fuko. They also face charges of wounding Amoni Matu with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. All 11 men have denied the charges. They are standing trial before Mr Justice Hendry and a jury.

Miss Shepherd, crossexamined by Mr Chris Field, admitted that when giving evidence at the depositions hearing she had been unsure what the man with the pipe had done. She said yesterday she was adamant he threw the pipe at the right leg of another man, ran, picked the pipe up again, then “took off.” She told Mr Mike Bungay that in August, when the depositions were held, she was nervous. However, she was no longer nervous and was sure of

events. Mr Eruera Hau told the court he was shopping in the mall when two men carrying duffel bags brushed past him. He said the two pulled machetes from their bags and one attacked a man sitting on the planter box. “The guy hacked away at the back of his neck," Mr Hau said. "It sounded like cutting down the spine of a sheep. It was quite loud. “I was not going to stick around, so I turned round and took off.” (Proceeding).