Six people will go on trial next month in relation to Kaitaia man Lee Rata's death.
PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Six people will go on trial next month in relation to Kaitaia man Lee Rata's death.
PHOTO/SUPPLIED
The trial of six people charged in relation to the death of Kaitaia man Lee Rata will get under way next month.
Lester Pairama, 17, Christopher Mana Manuel, 36, Juanita Rafael Wilcox, 26, and Joseph Martin, 41, all of Moerewa, and members or associates of the Mongrel Mob, are jointlycharged with the murder of Lee Rata and aggravated robbery.
A fifth person, Gregory Mark Comer, 58, of Paparoa, is charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact, possession of methamphetamine, perverting the course of justice, and receiving. A sixth person, Gregory Matthew Comer, is facing similar charges.
Mr Rata was severely beaten in Bonnetts Rd, Kaitaia near an address where a wedding party was taking place, on New Year's Eve in 2015.
He was found by a passer-by, who called emergency services, but Mr Rata died the next day in Whangarei Hospital.
On January 6 last year, police searched three houses in Leatty St in Moerewa and arrested a number of people, all on unrelated charges including and drug dealing.
In early February, officers returned to the same street and arrested three men and a woman, charging all four with murder and aggravated robbery.
Three were also charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
