Abel Wira appears at the High Court at Whangārei during his trial. He is accused of the manslaughter of Neville Thomson (inset) in August 2022.
Jurors have been asked to consider whether a makeshift kennel in a caravan was enough to contain a pack of hungry and aggressive dogs that mauled a man to death.
“That caravan was completely inappropriate for dogs of that nature,” the Crown said in closing its case against Abel Wira, the owner of the dogs.
“He knew they had a taste for blood.”
Wira, 61, has been on trial in the High Court at Whangārei accused of owning a dog causing injury or death and a charge of the manslaughter of Neville Thomson, who had been his friend for 40 years.
Over the past week, the jury has heard how Wira had been staying in a caravan at Thomson’s Panguru property with 21 of his dogs for at least six weeks in 2022.
On August 4, Wira went out to retrieve a car he had crashed weeks beforehand and then went to Broadwood to pick up items, including dog food.
Thomson was home alone and on the phone to his partner when the pack of dogs, which were allegedly barricaded in the caravan and had not been fed for two days, got out and mauled him to death.
Thomson’s partner Shirley Orchard gave evidence about what she heard in the background while talking to Thomson on the phone before he was attacked.
“The barking all started up and got louder and that was when I heard him shout out, ‘get out, get the f*** out’. Then the noise escalated from the dogs and I never heard another sound out of him,” she said.
Police conducted a welfare check more than three hours later and discovered Thomson had died from blood loss by multiple dog bites.
Three witnesses have given evidence on their encounters with the dogs, all describing them as aggressive.
Former Far North District Council animal management officer Stephen Eriksen told the court that when he arrived at the scene on August 4, the adult dogs were confined in a ute and appeared highly agitated, while the puppies were scattered throughout the property.
Eriksen said he was carrying one dog when he heard a commotion as the rest escaped out of a rear window of the ute.
“We’d broken into their space, their den, they went absolutely ballistic.
“There just seemed to be dogs coming out of everywhere.”
The council uplifted a 2-year-old boxer cross (Man), a 4-year-old female American bulldog (Bubba), a 5-year-old male American bulldog (Sonny) and 17 pups aged between 2 weeks old and 4 months.
One dog (Lovely) escaped into the bush and two of Thomson’s dogs were located inside the house.
Much of the trial has centred on how Wira used to secure the caravan, with a shoelace and a block of wood, as well as statements from Orchard.
Orchard testified that, based on her familiarity with the property’s layout, she believed Thomson had walked around the side of the house – prompting the dogs to spot him and break free from the caravan.
The defence chose not to present or call any witnesses, but Arthur Fairley outlined their position during his closing address to the jury today.
He argued the Crown’s case relied heavily on inferences drawn from Orchard’s statements, noting that in her initial police interview she claimed to have heard someone shout, “Get the f*** out of there”.
“There are two critical words, ‘get out’.
“Why is it get out? Get from where? And where’s the there?” Fairley asked.
The only explanation, Fairley said, was that Thomson had opened the caravan door.
“There’s an awful lot of guesswork going on up here,” Fairley said, referring to the Crown.
“If he’s getting mauled, you would think the man would be saying ‘get away dogs’. Their explanation makes no sense when you look at the total words.”
It has been the Crown’s case that Wira committed manslaughter as he had not taken reasonable precautions or used reasonable care to avoid the dogs endangering human life.
But Fairley submitted Thomson had been living with Wira and his dogs for at least four weeks before his death with no incidents.
Fairley said if it was found Thomson opened the caravan door, the Crown’s case was over.
“This time, place and circumstance. The kennel was the caravan and it was a cage that had worked up until the 4th of August,” Fairley said.
“If he hadn’t opened the doors, the dogs would still be in the caravan and he wouldn’t be dead.”
Crown lawyer Richard Annandale told the jury that for Thomson to have opened the caravan door, he would have had to reach through a hole straight into a pack of dogs “chomping at the bit”.
He said the caravan was completely inappropriate.
“It didn’t even have a door handle. It just doesn’t make sense.”
He argued the dogs had a known history of aggression and should have been properly restrained – either locked up, chained, or muzzled.
“If you’re going to keep animals this dangerous, then take the measures I’ve just described. Secure them properly.”
The Crown and defence urged the jury to consider whether Wira had taken reasonable precautions with his dogs and to reach a verdict beyond a reasonable doubt.
The jury is expected to retire to deliberate on Monday.
Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.