Bag-snatch murder accessory accused to have retrial

Hit-and-run victim Joanne Wang. Photo / Supplied

A man accused of being an accessory after the fact to the 2008 hit-and-run killing of Auckland woman Joanne Wang has had his conviction quashed and will go back to the High Court for a retrial.

Vila Lemanu was one of five men accused of being accessories to Christopher Shadrock, who was convicted of Mrs Wang's murder.

Lemanu, who was also found guilty of stealing Mrs Wang's handbag, was sentenced to three years in prison.

The Court of Appeal quashed Shadrock's conviction in August, for reasons which are suppressed, opening the door for Lemanu to appeal.

It made the decision in regard to his application.

"Proof of (Shadrock's) conviction for murder was a necessary element of the offence of being an accessory after the fact,'' said the ruling, released today.

It is understood the other co-accused also intend to appeal.

Mrs Wang died after being knocked down by a four-wheel drive in the carpark of the Manukau Westfield shopping centre in June 2008. She was chasing a bag snatcher

Police allege Shadrock snatched her bag and was driving the stolen four-wheel drive.

Mrs Wang later died in hospital from major head injuries.

Her 8-year-old son Edmund watched his mother being run down from the van she had been getting into when her bag was snatched. He was left alone while others rushed to where his mother lay bleeding.

Shadrock's retrial is scheduled for next June.