Murder accused Isaiah Buchanan tells Napier court victim Javon Aranui threw the first punch

Isaiah Buchanan (left) and Ahere Gillies appear in the High Court at Napier, charged with the murder of Javon Aranui. Photo / Ric Stevens

• Javon Aranui died from head injuries after a confrontation with Isaiah Buchanan and Ahere Gillies in 2023.
• Buchanan claims Aranui threw the first punch and the altercation ended with handshakes.
• Buchanan and Gillies have pleaded not guilty to Aranui’s murder.

One of two people accused of killing Javon Aranui claims the cyclist threw the first punch and the early morning fight ended with a handshake.

Isaiah Buchanan, 20, and Ahere Gillies, 21, are on trial in the High Court at Napier, charged with murdering Aranui, who suffered head injuries during the confrontation and died in hospital the following day.

Buchanan told the court neither he nor Gillies meant to seriously hurt Aranui and they were defending themselves after he threw the first punch at about 3am on December 20, 2023.

“We never intended for him to die … it was an accident,” Buchanan said on Friday while giving evidence in his defence.

“We never intended to hurt him or seriously injure him. All we wanted was for him not to attack us.”

Buchanan and Gillies have pleaded not guilty to murder and their trial is due to enter its second week today.

The court has been told Aranui, 24, died from blunt force trauma to the head, which led to a brain bleed after the altercation on a Hastings street.

The evidence says Aranui was conscious and talking to police after the incident but deteriorated in an ambulance on the way to hospital.

He needed help to keep breathing by the time he got to the Emergency Department at Hastings Hospital.

He was transferred to Wellington Hospital, where he died on December 21, 2023.

‘What are you laughing at?’

Buchanan described being woken by a barking dog at the Jellicoe St property where he lived with 16 other extended family members in the early hours of December 20.

With him in a sleepout at the front of the property was Ahere Gillies who, although older, is Buchanan’s nephew.

They went to the front of the property and saw a man coming down the road on a bicycle, being chased by a dog.

They were laughing at him as he passed, Buchanan said, because they had both been chased by the same neighbourhood dog, named Honey, on an earlier occasion.

Police at the scene of the altercation on Jellicoe St, Hastings, in 2023 that led to the death of Javon Aranui (inset). Photo / Paul Taylor

Buchanan said Aranui stopped and came back towards the two men and asked them what they were laughing at.

They did not respond to the question but Gillies asked Aranui where he was from.

Buchanan, in answer to questions from his counsel Adam Holland, told the court that Aranui then suddenly struck him in the mouth.

Buchanan said he was “shocked, stunned” because there had been no aggression until then.

Straight after the punch, he said Aranui kicked out at his left leg.

Gillies and Aranui then got into a physical altercation that included throwing punches at each other, including towards the head.

Buchanan said he came in from the side of the pair to defend Gillies, who tripped, “grabbed me and pulled me to the ground”.

At one point, Buchanan said Aranui had him in a headlock and was punching the top of his head.

At another point, he said Aranui was holding Gillies so that he couldn’t get up.

“He wouldn’t let go. I then came in and kicked him [Aranui] two or three times in the side of his body.”

During the altercation, the dog Honey and two dogs from Buchanan’s property also got involved.

Buchanan grabbed his dogs and secured them in the property. When he returned, Gillies and Aranui were standing, facing off.

“I assumed the fight was over then and everyone had run out of steam.”

However, the fight resumed between Gillies and Aranui, and the latter fell backwards, stiffly. He did not try to break his fall and hit his head.

“I thought he was knocked out before he hit the ground,” Buchanan said.

Gillies went into the property.

A bottle of water and a handshake

Buchanan said he went to Aranui and tried to wake him. He did not respond, so he dragged him on to a grass verge by his shoulders and put a backpack that Aranui had been carrying under his head, “like a pillow”.

Aranui regained consciousness. Buchanan said he helped him sit up and asked him if he was all right before assisting him to stand.

Gillies came back and he and Aranui shook hands. The two relatives gave Aranui a bottle of water.

Buchanan said they went inside when they saw police lights further down the street. The court was told earlier that a neighbour had called 111.

Crown prosecutor Megan Mitchell challenged Buchanan’s account of the first strike, questioning if he was asking the court to believe that a man on his own had turned to confront two people standing outside what was a known gang address.

Buchanan, who has admitted a Mongrel Mob association, said that he was.

Mitchell also suggested it was not believable that the two relatives and Aranui had a “friendly chat” after the altercation.

Gillies’ counsel, Eric Forster, said his client would not give or call evidence in his defence.

The trial, before Justice Peter Churchman and a jury of eight women and four men, continues.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of frontline experience as a probation officer.