Abel Wira appears at the High Court at Whangārei on Monday for the start of his trial. He is accused of the manslaughter of Neville Thomson (inset) in August 2022.
A concerned woman listened over the phone as her partner shouted at a pack of growling dogs – then the line went silent.
Shirley Orchard then sent Neville Thomson a message, desperate to know what was happening.
“I hear a pack of mutts going off and you disappear, you have left me here wondering if you have been mauled, let me guess. Are you out of it just forgot me or bleeding to death?” she said in her text message.
She never got a reply.
Three hours later, it was confirmed Thomson had been mauled to death by 23 dogs belonging to his boarder.
Abel Wira, 61, is now on trial at the High Court at Whangārei on charges of manslaughter and owning a dog that caused injury or death to the man he called a brother.
Crown lawyer Danica Soich opened the case to the jury today, outlining the details of what happened at Thomson’s property in Panguru on August 4, 2022.
The court heard on Monday that Wira had been living in a caravan at Thomson’s 2ha property with his dogs.
Soich said Wira was known to often lock his dogs in a truck or barricade them in his caravan with a block of wood.
A few weeks earlier, Wira had crashed his vehicle into a paddock.
On the day Thomson died he organised for a neighbour to help pull the vehicle out. Wira left the property, leaving Thomson at home to look after his dogs.
The court heard the dogs had a history of aggression, rushing at neighbours, attacking local cattle and even Wira had previously needed medical attention for dog bites.
About 9.56am, Thomson was on the phone with his partner and told her the dogs had not been fed in two days.
He said he had offered Wira his truck to go and get dog food but this had been declined.
Over the phone, Orchard heard dogs growling and barking and Thomson saying “get out of here you f***ing dogs”.
Thomson reportedly moved away from the phone and for the next 10 minutes she listened to growling, barking, shouting and then silence.
“Mr Thomson does not come back to the call,” Soich told the jury.
Orchard made several attempts to call back and texted her partner, confused by what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Wira had travelled to Broadwood to pick up dog biscuits and other items and returned to the Panguru property around 11am.
At 11.30am, the Crown said he sent a private Facebook message to his friend.
“I need help bro please my dogs have attacked my bro and he’s gone please bro.”
The court heard Wira was sighted leaving Panguru about 1pm and not long after he waved down police in Ahipara.
“Wira told police Neville Thomson was dead and had been eaten by dogs,” Soich told jurors.
“He explained it had been two hours since he found Mr Thomson and he was driving to Kaitāia police station as he did not have a phone.”
Throughout this time, Orchard was texting neighbours to check on Thomson and requested a police welfare check at 1.33pm.
“Sure enough, when they arrived they saw the defendant’s dogs locked in a [Toyota] Hilux. The dogs were behaving aggressively and trying to get out,” Soich said.
“There were muddy drag marks leading from the front porch to the kitchen.
“They found his body lying in the kitchen wrapped up in a blanket. Neville Thomson showed no signs of life.”
The dogs had blood on their fur and were reportedly locked in a truck, barking, attacking each other and almost breaking windows.
Thomson died at the scene from blood loss.
Six adults and 17 puppies were found at the property. Two had to be shot on site because of their aggressive behaviour.
When Wira was interviewed he said it was normal practice to lock his dogs in a caravan using a white shoelace and a log of wood across the door.
It is the Crown’s case that regardless of whether Wira was present or not, his departure from providing a reasonable standard of care for the dogs led to Thomson’s death.
“Mr Wira’s dogs were clearly dangerous,” Soich said.
“You’ll be asked to bring your knowledge of human and canine behaviour. For everything he knew about these dogs – a log placed against a caravan door, was a major failure.”
Defence lawyer Connor Taylor acknowledged Thomson’s death was horrific, but a terrible accident.
“Can it be proven that it was culpable homicide?” Taylor put to the jury.
“It’s not the situation you would often read about.
“What happened that day, how they got out, or why they got out, we will never know.
“What we do know is this. It was tragic, it was unforeseeable but it does not make Mr Wira guilty of his manslaughter.”
The trial is expected to last two weeks before Justice Andrew Becroft.
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.