The jury retired to deliberate on Friday. Photo / NZME
One of two men accused of unleashing a three-hour assault on a longtime friend told the court he and his twin weren’t involved, claiming they were instead hiding in a nearby bedroom out of respect for the victim’s privacy.
Identical twins Colin and Graham Whines, of Ngunguru, have been on trial at the Whangārei District Court this week facing several violence charges.
They include wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, wounding with intent to injure, threats to kill and kidnapping.
Charges related to unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition were dismissed partway through the trial.
The jury heard the twins had grown up with the complainant, Troy Hansen, in Auckland before reconnecting in the years after 2020 when the families discovered they had all moved to Northland.
Around midnight on February 16, 2023, Hansen opened the door of his Whangārei property to the twins who had turned up unannounced.
The Crown alleges that, after Graham went to the bathroom, he grabbed hold of Hansen tightly while Colin allegedly struck him across the head with a beer mug.
For the next three hours, the twins allegedly unleashed a brutal onslaught, raining down up to 50 blows with fists, feet and bar stools.
They allegedly strangled him with a blanket, doused him in vodka and tried to ignite him. Throughout the ordeal it’s alleged they repeatedly threatened to kill Hansen and his family.
Hansen managed to escape and reach help at his parents’ house and told them two Māori men had assaulted him at his house. This allegation was recorded on a 111 call and played in court.
At around 4am, a picture message was sent from Graham’s phone to Hansen, which showed guns and ammunition.
After being hospitalised with open wounds, concussion, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, he eventually told police it was not two Māori men but the Whines twins.
“I was always going to tell,” Hansen told the court when he gave evidence earlier in the week.
DNA evidence placed the twins at the scene and Hansen’s blood was also discovered near the driver’s side door of the twins’ car.
Graham took the stand on Thursday and acknowledged the two families had reconnected and been in regular contact following 2020.
“It was like the band was back together,” he said.
Graham went into detail of Colin’s ailing health suffering from long-term Lyme disease and kidney cancer and said he was still weak at the time of the incident.
He told the court he was exceptionally close with his twin and couldn’t imagine a life without him.
On the evening of the assault, Graham said they went to visit the Whangārei Falls and on the way, decided to travel almost 40km to the other side of town to visit Hansen.
According to evidence given by their flatmate, they would have left the house after 10.30pm.
Graham said they were greeted by Hansen at the door close to midnight and went inside for a catch-up where they were offered a glass of water.
“He mentioned he was expecting some guys from Auckland to come up and do a bit of business, I think to do with his motocross,” Graham said.
When the men allegedly turned up, Graham said Hansen told them to stay in his bedroom so he could have some privacy.
Once in the room, which was around 1-2 metres from the living area, Graham said they allegedly heard a lot of noise.
“There were loud voices and banging noises. I couldn’t see what was going on but my impression was there was some kind of argument transpiring,” Graham said.
“I didn’t know if that was Troy fighting someone else or someone else fighting Troy. I couldn’t see so I was very limited in my knowledge of what was happening.
“My concern was to stay quiet and hopefully no one would come through that door.”
When asked why he never came out to help Hansen, Graham said he was respecting Hansen’s wishes to privacy and was scared.
Graham said after those men left, the twins came out of the room to a beaten and bloodied Hansen.
“I offered to drive him to the hospital but he expressed he was okay, he didn’t need that and he was more concerned about having a cigarette,” Graham said.
“Troy had told me clearly he didn’t want me to talk to anyone about what had happened that evening. Obviously, he had something he didn’t want exposed and I respected his wishes.”
Graham also raised that Hansen had been involved in an altercation at Frings bar in Whangārei weeks prior.
Under cross-examination from Crown lawyer Alex Goodwin, he was asked why he sent Hansen a photo of guns and ammunition.
Graham said he scrolled through his hand-me-down phone and picked a random photo, one he hadn’t taken himself, that he thought Hansen could use to scare the men off.
“You remember a random photo of firearms, that doesn’t have you in it and your thought was ‘I’ll send you a random photo of firearms to scare people off?’” Goodwin asked.
“Troy was worried about escalation or that these people might come back. I was trying to support him and come up with a way to calm him down and make him feel safe,” Graham responded.
Graham then said Hansen had promoted a narrative that two local Māori men from a bar had beaten him up and insisted, Hansen tell the truth.
“That was the narrative he was promoting to me and I didn’t believe that, I think he knew those people,” Graham said.
“You’ve just come up with this story,” Goodwin put to Graham.
“I didn’t come up with the story, that’s what happened.”
Colin chose not to give evidence at the trial.
The jury retired to consider their verdicts on Friday morning.
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.