Dunedin bus hub stabbing: Trial of 14-year-old murder accused begins

A 13-year-old boy fatally stabbed a teenager at a Dunedin bus hub after an older boy told him to “pull your socks down”, a court has heard.

The now 14-year-old’s murder trial began today, where he has claimed the killing was self-defence and his reaction linked to PTSD from past assaults and bullying.

A jury was empanelled in the Dunedin High Court on Wednesday morning before Justice Robert Osborne.

Enere Taana-McLaren, 16, died of a single stab wound at the Dunedin bus hub on Great King St on May 23 last year.

The 14-year-old defendant, who has name suppression, reaffirmed his not-guilty plea to the single charge of murder.

The defence case is that he acted in self-defence.

Crown prosecutor Richard Smith outlined the Crown’s case to the jury.

Police officers at a scene of the stabbing last year. Photo / Ben Tomsett

He said that on the day of the incident, the defendant, then 13 years old, arrived on a bus at the Dunedin bus hub and walked past Taana-McLaren.

The defendant was wearing a white ski mask over his head that covered part of his face, a cap and socks pulled high.

Smith said it appeared Taana-McLaren told the defendant to “pull his socks down” and made a derogatory remark.

The defendant walked 10 or 20 metres past Taana-McLaren before he turned toward him, where he could be seen in CCTV footage giving the middle finger and yelling something back.

Taana-McLaren can be seen to laugh, and the defendant walked toward him.

As he got closer, about seven paces away, he dropped his school bag before walking closer, resulting in the two squaring off.

Witnesses described one or both asking the other if they “want to go”, Smith said.

The defendant reached into his bag and presented a kitchen knife.

Taana-McLaren retreated, and the defendant pursued.

Police officers arrived within one minute of the incident occuring on May 23 last year. Photo / Ben Tomsett

Taana-McLaren kicked out, and the defendant responded by swinging the knife.

Taana-McLaren continued to back away, and the defendant pursued him into the middle of the road and swung the knife again, this time stabbing Taana-McLaren in the abdomen, Smith said.

The knife penetrated just above Taana-McLaren’s belly button, causing a 10-12cm wound and resulting in a large amount of internal bleeding that was “unable to be repaired, despite emergency surgery”.

The defendant was arrested near the scene, and interviewed by police shortly after.

The defendant told police it had become routine for him to carry a knife in public because he had previously been the victim of bullying and assault.

He told the police it was not his intention to use it, and that his intention was to “wave it around”, to scare Taana-McLaren.

He told police he thought that stabbing someone was wrong.

Smith told the jury the defendant did not need to walk back towards Taana-McLaren or use the knife.

“The Crown says that can not be seen as an act of self-defence. It’s murder.”

Defence counsel Anne Stevens KC outlined the defence case to the jury.

She said the defendant moved to New Zealand with his family in 2023 when he was 12, and suffered PTSD from an assault and robbery on him that year.

She said it was after this assault that the defendant took to carrying a knife.

Stevens told the jury the defendant had never met Taana-McLaren, and acted in self-defence the day of the incident.

“Enere was bigger and taller than him, and [the defendant] saw Enere as a physical threat,” she said.

“The defendant thought he was going to be bashed by this bigger, older stranger, just as he had in August 2023.”

Stevens said that a month before the incident, the defendant was threatened by an older, bigger boy at the bus hub who was part of the same group that assaulted the defendant the year before.

She told the jury the defendant showed the boy a glimpse of the knife in his waistband and the other boy left.

On the day of the May 23 incident when the defendant stepped off the bus, Taana-McLaren became “very focused on him”.

Stevens said Taana-McLaren told the defendant “pull your socks down, b***h boy”.

The defence case was that Taana-McLaren took the defendant’s retreat as a challenge, and called out “you sackless c**t, I’ll smash you over”.

She said the defendant returned and said: “I don’t know you, what’s your problem with me?”

The defendant then took his school bag off thinking there was going to be a fight, and Taana-McLaren asked him what was in his bag.

Stevens said the defendant told him he had a knife, and Taana-McLaren said “get it out, get it out, you won’t use it”.

The defendant pursued Taana-McLaren following the kick to his head to prevent further violence against himself, subsequently stabbing him in the abdomen, she said.

After he stabbed Taana-McLaren, he dropped the knife.

Stevens told the jury the incident was the emotional response of a 13-year-old made in a timeframe of about 60 seconds and stemming from a background of being bullied and assaulted.

She said the defence case was that the defendant’s actions were not that of premeditated murder, but “a scared child who regularly sneaks a knife from his parents’ kitchen drawer before he goes out to protect himself”.

The trial is set down for 18 days.

Ben Tomsett is a Multimedia Journalist for the New Zealand Herald, based in Dunedin.

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