Trial for alleged attack on man

Press, 30 May 1989, Page 12

Trial for alleged attack on man

Three men who allegedly broke into a man’s house with a sledgehammer and softball bat and robbed him of $2BBO will face trial by jury in the High Court. During a struggle in the lounge the complainant, Edward Mohi Huria, was said to have suffered a fractured skull after being hit with both weapons. He suffered bruises and cuts to a shoulder, his back, and arms. The preliminary hearing began in the District Court last week and was completed yesterday. Justice of the Peace then committed the three defendants for trial on the three joint charges each faced. The defendants were Edison St Martin Rangi Smith, aged 25, unemployed (Mr Rupert Glover), Kira Hemopo, aged 28, «a freezing worker (Mr Andrew Mclntosh), and Mark Richard Whittaker, aged 28, a part-time fisherman (Mr Tim Fournier). The charges were of being armed with a sledgehammer and baseball bat and robbing Mr Huria of $2BBO, intentionally causing him grievous bodily harm, and breaking into his home. Mr Huria had given evidence last week of three men, disguised and with a sledgehammer and baseball bat, breaking into his house at 6 a.m. on March 20, demanding money and attacking him. He said he thought he was going to die in the attack.

Yvonne Ann White, a domestic purposes beneficiary, said yesterday she lived with Mr Huria. She was woken by a lot of yelling and saw two men in the lounge. The taller one had a sledgehammer, and yelled, “where’s the bag, where’s the money.”

The other men had a baseball bat.

Both wore safety helmets.

The man with the sledgehammer swung it at a door, smashing it, and made a hole in a wall.

She believed they were seeking the money, about $3OOO, which was in her handbag. About $2500 to $2BOO of this was Mr Huria’s, which he had won at races.

Their dog started growling at the men and Mr Huria held it but it broke free, and it was hit with the sledgehammer. Mr Huria then jumped at the man who had hit the dog. The other man told Ms White not to move or he would smash her head in. She sat down, “quite scared.” She saw Mr Huria and the man with the sledgehammer fighting, and then another man, the shortest of the three, entered the house and hit Mr Huria on the head with a baseball bat. The man with the sledgehammer then got up and hit Mr Huria.

Mr Huria was crying in pain. The witness said she could not sit there any longer, and hit this man.

She was hit on a shoulder with a baseball bat and the tallest man threw the sledgehammer at her but missed. The men then left.

She then found her bag missing. As well as the money, it had contained half an ounce of cannabis, a social welfare cheque, and other items. Ms White sdaid that three days later Hemopo called at their house and said he was really sorry for what had happened.

He said it was not meant to happen that way and that “fast Eddy” had said there was quite a bit of money and to just “run in, grab the bag, and out again.” Hemopo said he would get the money back, and that his share was only $6OO. He later paid them $7OO, saying the other $lOO was for the broken door.

Ms White also told of the two other defendants having called at their house, separately, after the robbery.

Whittaker said he was sorry about what happened and asked whether there was anything he could do. Mr Huria was in hospital at the time.

He called later in the week and said he would pay them back. He said he only received $6OO as his share. Ms White said Whittaker did not repay this money. She said Smith called after the incident, and while Mr Huria was in hospital. He told her that he had heard she had named him as one of the persons responsible. He began flicking his fingers and asking what it was about. He then looked into the lounge and saw she had a visitor “a big guy-” Smith then put his jacket on and walked out of the house. A detective gave evidence of interviewing Smith and Whittaker. Smith said he had nothing to do with the robbery. When told that Mr Huria had identified him by a tattoo on his arm, exposed while they struggled, he said others also had that mark and he had been set up. Whittaker also said he had nothing to do with the robbery. Hemopo was also interviewed, by another detective. Portions of this interview were objected to by Mr Glover and Mr Mclntosh. (Before Judge Noble) WITHDRAWN A charge against Ross Ernest Collins, aged 24, unemployed, of disorderly behaviour in the Family Court on May 15 was withdrawn by the police yesterday. Collins, represented by Mr Douglas Taffs, was to have defended the charge yesterday.