The 14-year-old defendant, who has interim name suppression, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of 16-year-old Enere Taana-McLaren on the basis of self-defence.
Counsel Anne Stevens KC told the High Court at Dunedin yesterday her client saw the older, bigger boy as a physical threat and used a knife in a way he believed was reasonable at the time.
Today, the jury continued to view CCTV from an array of angles as well as a lone video taken from a cell phone which showed the severity of the incident quickly became clear.
“He got stabbed,” a voice can be heard saying, just seconds afterwards. “He got f...ing stabbed, bro. S...”
CCTV played this morning – often in slow motion - captured the defendant getting off a bus, wearing a white ski mask over his head, socks pulled up and a black bag over his shoulder.
The victim put down his bag and walked towards the defendant who turned and advanced to meet him.
Footage showed the pair squaring off on the footpath.
Bus driver Christopher Kitto, who was parked outside the Dunedin central police station, said Enere was yelling “come on, come on, let’s go, let’s get at it”.
Even before that, he said it appeared the teenager was “spoiling for a fight”.
The witness said the taller boy continued to goad his counterpart when the boy put his hand into his shoulder bag.
“Get it out, get it out,” Enere said, according to the bus driver.
The defendant can be seen withdrawing a kitchen knife from his bag before lunging at the victim.
Enere delivered an “impressive kick” as the fight spilled onto the road where the fatal wound was delivered.
In slow-motion clips played today, the knife could be seen skidding across the road as the melee unfolded and the pair wrestle on the ground.
Mrs Stevens suggested he had an uninterrupted view of events, better than the cameras - “the best seat in the house”.
“I didn’t really want to be, but yes,” Mr Kitto said.
The boys were quickly separated and the victim could be seen lifting his clothing to check the damage to his midriff.
Mr Smith said the knife plunged 10 to 12cm through the victim's muscles and stomach and into his spinal tissue.
The court heard it had become routine for the defendant to carry around the weapon and he told police he had only planned to "pull it out, just like wave it around or do something with it, probably make him scared or something”.
He also admitted he was aware of the life-threatening possibility of using it.
Mrs Stevens told the jury her client had carried the knife since being the victim of a robbery in 2023 from which he was diagnosed with PTSD.
She said it was a case of self-defence.
Mrs Stevens described the defendant as "a scared child who regularly sneaks a knife from his parents’ kitchen drawer".
"How [he] used the knife was reasonable in these circumstances."
The trial, before Justice Rob Osborne, is set down for three and a-half weeks.
