Accused 'said he threw wheel rim' into party crowd

Stacey Roamana Pakaru

Stacey Roamana Pakaru admitted to a police detective that he had thrown a wheel rim into the middle of a crowd as Tauranga police dealt with an out-of-control party on the night of January 7.

Pakaru also expressed remorse for the horrific injuries he inflicted on Constable Deborah Jay, after spending nearly 10 hours in a police cell after the incident.

That was part of the final day's evidence given yesterday at the Hamilton High Court, as Crown Prosecutor Greg Hollister-Jones called on two of his final witnesses.

Pakaru is charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Ms Jay. He faces an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard for the safety of others. A not-guilty plea has been entered on both charges.

The court has heard that Ms Jay suffered a fractured skull, lacerations to her forehead, a broken nose, a broken collarbone and two broken teeth as a result of the airborne wheel rim.

Dr Luke Phang, who attended to Ms Jay on the night, said on Tuesday the constable's injuries could have killed her.

Yesterday, Detective Nigel Grey told the court he had interviewed Pakaru at 3.15am on January 8. Initially the accused denied seeing any wheel rims, and told the detective he did not throw anything.

Following discussions about Ms Jay's ill health and the likelihood that serious charges would be pressed against him, Pakaru later changed his story, Mr Grey told the court.

At 11.15am on January 8, a DNA sample was requested from Pakaru. After some rights were read out, he replied: "I want to talk to you about it."

Detective Grey said the "voluntary" conversation was spontaneous and not the result of questioning.

According to the detective's notes, Pakaru said: "I want to tell you that I did throw the rim. I'm very remorseful about doing that. I know she probably won't accept my apology but that's something I'll have to live with."

Pakaru also stated he threw the rim to try to stop the police. "I didn't mean it to hit the lady in the head, I didn't even really notice her ... it was a stupid thing to do ... I'm very sorry that I did this and I hope she recovers."

Constable Matthew Elliott said he helped Pakaru with a change of clothing and cleaning in the hours after the incident.

"Immediately before getting into the shower the accused started to sob, and said 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean it, I'm sorry, I'm sorry'."

Pakaru's defence counsel, Tony Balme, yesterday produced several witnesses.

He focused almost exclusively on a tattered and blood-stained white t-shirt Pakaru was alleged to have been wearing on the night of the party.

Central to Mr Balme's argument was whether the t-shirt had once had sleeves attached to it.

There was some confusion over whether the t-shirt had been torn or cut, and a local seamstress was called in by Mr Balme to give expert analysis.

The jury will today be asked to decide the fate of Pakaru, a 28-year-old who has remained passive throughout the trial, before Justice Lester Chisholm. A large family contingent has supported him throughout.