Manslaughter admission by murder accused

One of the men charged with the murder of Christchurch Men’s Prison inmate Benton Marni Parata has admitted committing the fatal assault and would admit a charge of manslaughter.

The admission was told to the Christchurch High Court jury by Phil Shamy, defence counsel for 23-year-old Akuhata Tihi, as he made a brief opening statement in the two week trial.

He said: “It is accepted by Mr Tihi that he is guilty of manslaughter. It is accepted that he punched and assaulted Mr Parata.

“The key issue in this trial is whether he possessed murderous intent at the very moment the act was committed,” he said.

Crown evidence will suggest a stomp on the back of the head pushing his face into the cell floor may have caused the injury that led to the death of Parata, a prison inmate.

Crown prosecutor Diedre Orchard told Justice Gerald Nation and a jury that the case was that three men charged with murder over the March 2015 killing “planned to give Mr Parata a serious beating from the outset and acted according to that pre-arranged plan”.

Closed circuit tv footage covering Parata’s cell door showed that the three men were in the cell less than 90sec, but corrections staff then found Parata badly injured in the cell and called for medical help. He died in hospital from serious head injuries five days later.

The Crown will call about 40 witnesses at the two-week trial in the High Court at Christchurch of Steven Betham, 37, Levi Hohepa Reuben, 21, and Akuhatua Tihi, 23, who are jointly charged with the murder of Parata, 44. All deny the charge.

Mrs Orchard said the Crown would tell the jury that they could draw “an important inference” from the fact that apart from a small bruise on the elbow, there were no defensive injuries on Parata’s body. “It means that the kicks or blows delivered afterwards, were delivered to a man unable to protect himself.”

She said the pathologist Dr Martin Sage would give evidence that Parata had received at least seven forceful head impacts. Injuries to Parata’s central face were likely to be related to a bruise on the back of the head.

“One possible mechanism for these injuries is that there was a stomp to the back of his head while his head was a little above the floor of his cell, and his head was propelled into the floor.”

Parata had complex fractures of the upper jaw, and eye socket, and a broken and flattened nose.

She said the CCTV footage showed Tihi entering the cell after binding his hands with white tape.

Evidence would be given that the day before the assault, Parata had told a prison officer that Tihi had taken a radio from the cell of another older prisoner. Parata said he was going to have a word with Tihi about a lack of respect shown by younger prisoners to older persons.

“The Crown says that gives the defendant a motive – resentment at having Mr Parata tell where this radio was that he had stolen from an older prisoner, and that by inference he got a telling off from Mr Parata,” said Mrs Orchard.

She also said Tihi had later written a letter to a family member, saying: “Me and two other people put this person in Christchurch Hospital.”

Afternoon update: Prison officers gave evidence of being approached by a prisoner two days before the assault, saying that his prison-issue television had been taken from his cell. They suspected Tihi had taken it, because he was “off privileges” and not allowed a television, and found it in his cell underneath a blanket.

They returned it to the other prisoner but did not file a report about it because they believed the issue had been dealt with and did not notice any increased threats or tensions.

Parata mentioned to one officer that he would have a word with the younger prisoners about them disrespecting the older prisoners who were doing bigger sentences. He believed Parata would have meant Tihi. He later saw Parata having a conversation with Tihi, but he could not hear what was said.

Parata was seen as a senior prisoner with a certain mana in the wing. He had a reputation as a tough or staunch guy, who was “stand-alone” – he was not connected with any gang in prison.

Rawhiti wing, where this incident occurred, was regarded as a tough unit. There were sometimes unsanctioned boxing fights in the prison yard. Fights would be stopped and those involved would face disciplinary charges.

The trial is proceeding.

Tags: head stomp, murder, prison

Category: Focus