Teen murderer Haami Hanara caught by police after 'short foot pursuit'

A teenager jailed for murdering a Flaxmere man when he was 14 has been located and charged by police after breaking out of a youth facility in Wiri.

Haami Hanara, 16, will face a charge of escaping from lawful custody and will appear in the Manukau Youth Court tomorrow.

Hanara smashed his way through a reinforced window at a South Auckland Youth Justice Facility and traversed a roof before escaping via the staff carpark.

Sean Ratu, 17, also escaped from the Korowai Manaaki youth justice facility on Saturday - the staff noticing their disappearance at 9.30pm.

However, police were only notified about the disappearance of the pair at about 10.10pm, around 40 minutes later.

Police spotted Hanara in Wiri this afternoon, chased him down and took him into custody, said Detective Inspector Chris Barry of Counties Manukau Police.

He described the chase as a "short foot pursuit".

"We hope that this outcome brings some reassurance to our communities and I would like to acknowledge the staff who have worked on this matter since Saturday night," Barry said.

"Our inquiries are ongoing into the whereabouts of the other young person who had also absconded from the facility on Saturday night."

In February last year Hanara - who had turned 15 on Christmas Day 2018 - was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 10 years for murdering Kelly Donner, 40.

A High Court jury heard how Hanara stabbed Donner four times with a knife - twice in the neck and once in the chest and another time in the shoulder - on March 4, 2018.

One of the blows proved fatal, severing the 40-year-old's carotid artery and leaving him dying, alone, in a pool of his own blood.

The murder of Kelly Donner

Donner, who preferred to "sleep rough" was well known around the Flaxmere Village and would often clean supermarket trolleys, help people with their shopping or carried laundry to their car.

He was known as "kind and humble man" to those who knew him.

On March 4, near 10.20pm, Hanara and four other teenagers entered an enclosed yard of the Flaxmere Tavern in a bid to steal alcohol.

Donner happened to be in the yard looking for cigarette butts and loaned Hanara his torch which he passed to another associate in order to hotwire a car, parked in the yard.

Donner eventually asked for his torch back but when the teenager refused, Donner became angry.

An attack escalated, and a beer bottle was smashed in Donner's face.

He escaped from the yard and ran out behind the tavern where the attack continued.

Glass bottles, pieces of wood and even chunks of concrete and a bicycle were thrown at Donner who also armed himself with bottles to retaliate against the youths before retreating.

The court heard that Hanara hid in the shadows until Donner turned his back and walked away.

It was then the teenager followed him, stabbing him four times before he and the rest of the youths "stomped, punched and kicked him" while he was lying on the ground before they all fled.

At Hanara's sentencing, his lawyer told the court the teen - who had turned 15 on Christmas Day 2018 - had alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, ADHD and mental impairment.

He also came from a "disadvantaged background", growing up in a family that had strong gang loyalties where gang behaviour was prioritised.