Tyrone Daniel Flavell, 20, who is on trial in the High Court at Tauranga, does not deny shooting Maketu father-of-five Isaac Dale Bushell on December 8 last year in a beachside carpark in the township after they became involved in a confrontation.
However, Flavell denies murderous intent when he pulled the trigger of his 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and shot 46-year-old Mr Bushell in the chest.
During his closing address yesterday, Flavell's lawyer Paul Mabey QC told the jury to consider carefully all the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the shooting.
Mr Mabey said Mr Bushell threatened and assaulted Flavell, warning him to end his relationship with his new love Sam Reid - the former partner of the deceased's good mate Darkie Cable, who is a patched Mongrel Mob member, or he could expect dire consequences.
Mr Bushell told the defendant that when Cable got out of prison he would come looking for him and wanted to kill him, a warning Cable had earlier delivered from prison, he said.
Mr Mabey said Flavell and Ms Reid were sitting his truck when Mr Bushell attacked and threatened him, and walked off, but turned to come back again. Flavell, a much smaller man, feared for his safety and believed Mr Bushell was going to hit him again after he "got right up into his face" and threatened more violence.
Mr Mabey told the jury there was no evidence Flavell intended to kill. "You need to consider the circumstances Mr Flavell found himself in, as he believed it to be, and consider whether the force he used was unreasonable. I'm not saying he was justified in killing Mr Bushell but there is no evidence of deliberate intent."
Mr Mabey said Flavell was unaware he had killed Mr Bushell until he was told at the police station and he was "genuinely shocked, crying and distressed".
"There was no deliberate killing here ... Tyrone Flavell is not a murderer. But if you can rule out self-defence, I submit to you at the very least you can find him guilty of manslaughter," he said.
Crown prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones told the jury the evidence clearly showed Flavell deliberately shot Mr Bushell in an act of retaliation and wanted to teach him a lesson. Mr Hollister-Jones said quiet rage had been building up inside Flavell after the interference in his new relationship, which "burst its banks" and he pulled the trigger knowing it would kill.
It was no accidental shooting and the jury's verdict must be murder, he said.
After Mr Bushell punched Flavell twice in the forehead, he walked off and was leaving. Flavell deliberately loaded his shotgun with a bullet taken from the glovebox of his vehicle and pursued Mr Bushell, who was 20-30 metres away, pumped the shotgun, and deliberately pulled the trigger knowing what was going to happen, he said.
"This was not a man acting in self-defence. These are the actions of angry, adrenalin-fuelled man pursuing somebody who had hit him, threatened and taunted him, and Flavell decided he would teach Mr Bushell a lesson and send a message to Mr Cable," he said.
The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict today.